SealedUnsealed
by DarthXiphias
Summary: When DiZ attempts to send Roxas to the digital Twilight Town, Roxas summons the last bit of fight within himself to open a dark portal, causing the machine to malfunction and send him to the conflicted world of the X-Men.
1. Chapter One

The twenty first century had been tough on humanity, and even tougher on the new arrivals to the evolutionary chain; the mutants. Though earth was a cauldron of bigotry and prejudice, where mutants and humans hated each other and shunned those who tried to live in unity, there were four places that were different. These four places were G.U.N, Mutant Island, S.H.I.E.L.D, and Xavier's Institute for the Gifted.

These places and facilities shared similarities to each other; Mutant Island and Xavier's Institute for the Gifted offered safe haven and freedom for mutants, while G.U.N and S.H.I.E.L.D saw tools and numbers on paper.

They also had differences; Xavier's Institute for the Gifted and S.H.I.E.L.D train and teach those in their care to protect and preserve the delicate peace of the world, defending both humanity and mutant kind from those who would abuse and use them, namely, G.U.N and The Brotherhood of Mutants, who live upon Mutant Island. G.U.N uses mutants and humans in untold conspiracies and experiments, vying to put mankind on the galactic map with an army of mindless superbeings at their command. The Brotherhood of Mutants seeks mutant supremacy over the earth, their leader Magneto leading them with charisma and vision.

As these powers fight, the world spins to another World War, one that threatens the future of life itself on the small planet.

And it's salvation comes not in a great leader, but in the arrival of one not born of either earth or nature...

* * *

"Mutant Ball!"

With those two words, many baseball founders and legends turned in their graves. The instructors at Xavier's Institute for the Gifted put great emphasis into using the powers granted to homo sapien superior with responsibility, but the students developed amnesia of this whenever the slightest form of hot blooded competition arose amongst them.

"Batter up!" The pitcher spun his arm at super human speed before throwing the ball, taking apart the bat when the batter hit it by sheer luck.

"Strike one!"

"No way!" The batter, Kurt Wagner, protested. "I hit it!"

"Still went to the catcher." Argued Rogue from third base. "Strike One."

Kurt threw his arms up. "For the love of...! Fine, I'm getting another bat." He teleported to the sports supplies and began rummaging through the bags.

"Y'know, the Professor is losing his patience with these." Said a short brunette sitting on a bench next to the supplies.

"Yeah, yeah, we know." Kurt said nonchalantly. "And I'm losing my patience no one bothering to keep the bats in the same bag every time."

"I'm serious." She said in a more warning tone.

"Chill out, X-girl." Kurt found the bat-bag and drew one out with a flourish. "The Professor won't even know."

"_Do not_ call me that!" She rose to her feet with a fist clenched before her. "It's X. 2. 3! Got it? X23."

Kurt turned to regard her with a compassionate face. "That's what S.H.I.E.L.D calls you. We're your friends."

"Hey! Nightcrawler!" Shouted Rogue. "Hurry up!"

"Be right there!" Kurt shouted back before turning again to X23, who had taken her seat again.

"You're part of the team now, so you should pick a name for yourself."

X23 responded with her own variant of the 'wolverine growl'.

"Okay, okay. Sheesh..." With that, Kurt teleported back to the game in a puff of smoke.

"I already have a name..." X23 sat there, arms crossed over her chest. She had been getting encouragement to choose a name since she got to the school. Not a common name, of course, that would be a stretch to choose. They meant a 'mutant name', Cyclops and Nightcrawler for instance. She hadn't picked one because she didn't see the point. She hadn't been born like everyone else on the field before her; she was a clone, Logan's clone, to be exact. This didn't make her feel less of an individual, as some might think a clone might, but it did put her perspective on the mutant-human conflict on a different angle, along with this subject.

She felt that, since she was a clone, a 'mutant name', as the term went, didn't fit her. 'X23'. A clone. That was her. She wasn't proud or ashamed, she just accepted the fact, much like every mutant accepted their standing in the world.

"Strike!" She heard for the second time, breaking her trail of thought. How they expected to have a satisfying game when they were going through bats like popcorn, she had no idea.

"Hello again." Kurt's visit this time was going to be short, as he hadn't the excuse of not knowing which bag to go to. X23 turned away from him, feeling put off by his presence. She looked to the small forest of trees that occupied the school grounds. She found it relaxing, surprisingly, as not very much calmed her down beyond physical exertion, something Logan could relate to and guide her away from. She remembered that Logan had suggested painting in an exasperated fit during one of their earlier discussions on what she should do in her spare time...

Her thoughts were again interrupted by the shout of a strike and Kurt teleporting over.

"That's it!" He sounded more outraged than offended or angry. "_I'm_ telling the Professor" And he was gone. He wasn't going straight to the Professor's office, of course, he needed a story to get himself out of trouble, and so had teleported into the trees.

X23 put herself back to looking into the forest. She had just found her calm when Kurt came back.

"X, you have to see this!"

"Whatever it is..." Her words caught in her throat as she saw Kurt with his fur singed in several places.

"What the hell?" She said rising to her feet.

Kurt held out his hand with urgency. "Come on!"

X23 grabbed Kurt's hand, and an instant later she was standing in the forest.

"This guy. This guy here." X23 looked around for a moment before laying eyes on who Kurt was talking about; a blonde boy in a black coat lying unconscious on the ground.

* * *

There is not one 'world' that is, universe or realm of existence. There are many places, many lands and planets. There are as many worlds as there are ways to travel to them. There are those who know some of these methods, and use the ability to travel to other worlds for good or ill. Roxas, though naively unaware of it, was the latter. He was part of an organisation, one that sought to collect enough hearts together to form 'Kingdom Hearts', a great heart to complete their existences as Nobody's.

Roxas had rebelled and left for...for...someone? Something? Either way, he had left, and had gone in search of a man who was masquerading as one of the organisation, a man whom he felt largely responsible for the reason for his rebellion against the organisation. He confronted him, but was defeated when his opponent stopped holding back. He had drifted in and out of consciousness, but had come to realise that he was going to be sent somewhere, somewhere that the imposter and his accomplice, a man in red, would make use of him. He had wanted to fight, to get up and run, but couldn't. He had been powerless as they dumped him onto some contraption and made final preparations to do whatever it was that they intended.

As they typed away and remarked on their pity for him, Roxas had summoned one last ounce of will, of defiance against being used. He wasn't aware of it, but when his captors had pushed the button, he had attempted to open a dark corridor, causing their machine and his corridor to malfunction and fluctuate. Instead of being sent to where his captors wanted he was sent spiralling through the space between worlds.

Unconscious the whole time, he had been left to crawl through the mess of forgotten and torn away memories that filled his mind. He struggled to recall things that his mind said never happened, but something else in him said meant all the worlds to him. He had drifted for a long time, his body wearing out as the time went by. And then a tear in the barriers that sealed off the worlds from one another opened near him, and he was sucked in...

* * *

X23 stood in the doorway of the school first-aid room. She had no idea why, but she kept coming back to look at the boy who lay there on the sick-bed. She had told the others that she had been getting a suspicious vibe from the boy, which they bought when Logan agreed with her, but really, she had been lying. She just...felt like looking at him.

He was emaciated, probably hanging onto his life by a thread, but he looked like someone conditioned for battle. Given this and his suspicious arrival, they had only wild assumptions to run on, one of them being he was a runaway mutant from somewhere or someone. It was an exceedingly rare occurance, but not unheard of. The means by which he arrived, on the other hand...

The boy stirred, his mind trying to regain consciousness.

"Xion..." He whispered.

X23 made no move to assist or restrain his attempt to wake. She knew from her training as the new 'Weapon X' that his body was a far way off from being able to support consciousness of any sort. She instead watched the tear that had formed in his eye slide down his cheek. She felt that, whatever had happened to the boy over the course of his life, that tear was probably justified. She should know, as she had wanted to cry so many times before...

She had faked her own death once. Granted blowing up a ship while aboard the thing was a rather convincing method, but she knew better than to be complacent. She had taken to travelling the united states as a nomad, going from place to place, stealing what she needed here and there. She soon found this life wanting, and had looked around in her travels for a place to stay, a purpose to take up, but to no avail. I didn't matter what the job was, what the pay was, whether a cashier, waitress, car-jacker, mechanic, she just couldn't find it was what she wanted out of life, whatever that meant.

But her search was interrupted. She had been approached by another mutant, a pyrokenetic, one who had introduced themselves as Amaimon. Part way through his introduction, she had figured out he was an agent of Magneto, the de facto fuhrer of their day and age, and was trying to recruit her. She had turned him down and made a dash in the other direction, but the Brotherhood had stopped taking 'no' for an answer some time ago.

Much to her lasting vexation, the X-Men had shown up, Logan aka Wolverine most notably. Convinced by Logan and recent events that she was no longer safe out in the world, she had agreed to go back with them to the school, even though it meant taking sides by company in a war she wanted no part off. Add to this that S.H.E.I.L.D, Hydra, or whoever else had a vested interest in the existence of a school for mutants would learn of her presence there within a week, and you had a crappy situation.

At least there was food.

She decided she had sated her inexplicable need for the time being and headed off to her room for the night.


	2. Chapter Two

Four weeks had passed since Roxas sudden and unexplained arrival onto the school grounds. Today was his first day of being given a proper tour of Xavier's Institute for the Gifted, his previous walks around the school building only meant as physiotherapy for his exhausted body.

"And out the front doors are the fountain where most fundraisers and other events are held, and over there is the forest grounds..." Scott Summers had been taking quite a bit of joy in providing the tour, while his friend, Jean, was less enjoying her friend's tour than she was keeping an eye on Roxas' condition. Roxas himself was using a walker to support his weight while he walked.

Roxas' journey from wherever he came from had taken a greater toll on his body than was first thought; on closer inspection, his caretakers had found he had endured quite a few battle wounds that were never properly tended to, adding to the difficulty of his recovery. Because of this, the tour was had been little shorter than most other ones.

"And those are the front gates." Scott finished. "And that's the whole school."

Roxas smiled through his aches. "Thanks." He didn't say this out of genuine gratitude, just good manners.

"Do you want to go back to your room?" Asked Jean.

Roxas thought for a moment. He did want to rest, but from he had been told during his recovery, he needed to push himself a little bit to help his recovery along.

"I'd like to walk around for a while, if that's alright." He said, still smiling.

"Okay, where do you want to go?"

Roxas thought about asking to go to the dining room again, but he had just eaten, so his caretakers would know he was just after more ice-cream. He decided he wanted to go to the forest, where he was found.

"The forest."

Jean and Scott looked at each other.

"Um, maybe that's still a bit much for you." Scott advised. "How about the gardens out back?"

Roxas sighed. Disappointment. He felt like he had felt that before...

"Roxas?"

He looked up to see Jean and Scott looking at him with concerned looks. "You alright?"

"Yeah. Fine..." He didn't like the gardens much, but he didn't think anywhere else would be quiet enough for him right now.

"The garden."

"Okay." Jean helped Roxas back inside and through the main building. He looked into every open room along the way, earning a friendly joke from Scott when they passed the kitchen. They passed a classroom where Professor Xavier, the headmaster of the school, was giving a lecture on some advanced school subject.

His arrival and suspicious condition aside, he had surprised everyone with his general lack of knowledge of everything. He knew about some things, like language, reading and writing, what the sun was and other everyday information, but beyond that, he had nothing. Professor Xavier had asked to scan his mind when he was first interviewed by the schoolmaster, and Roxas had agreed to have his mind scanned. Afterward, Professor Xavier said he thought he might have amnesia, which he was told was a condition where you couldn't remember anything. He had said his memories might return on their own, but later, when the Professor scanned him again, he said he wasn't so sure. Roxas, and everyone else, were waiting on the Professor to explain further, but the Professor had closed up on the subject.

"Watch the step."

Pulled back to his surroundings by Jean's voice, Roxas noticed he was almost at the back doors. He grunted a little as he dropped the front wheels of the walker, put a foot down the step, brought the back wheels down, then put his other foot down.

He stood there for a moment to breathe through the dull ache. He felt like his body was taking forever to get better.

They moved out the back door and went to the 'green house', which was, most notably, _not_ green. He nodded to the first seat he laid eyes on, still needing help to sit or stand. He leant back, resting his head against the glass pane behind the bench he sat on.

"Thanks." He said with a sigh.

"Do you want anything?"

Roxas didn't look at Jean, not wanting to open his eyes. "No, I'll be fine...just need to rest."

"Okay, I'll be just outside." He couldn't see her, but he could tell from the sound of foot movement and voice distance that she had turned to Scott. "Thank you, Scott."

"You're welcome."

Roxas listened as footsteps headed away from him, one pair stopping outside the green house. Opening his eyes to look at the floor, he put his mind to work. He had wanted to go to the forest, hoping he could remember something, anything, by looking around where he 'appeared', but the green house would do. He just wanted somewhere quiet that _wasn't _the main building. Man, he was sick of being in there!

Anyway, he thought about what had happened in the last four weeks, which as far as he knew, was his entire life. He had arrived from somewhere he couldn't remember, with injuries from a fight he didn't recall fighting, into a place that baffled him.

His caretakers called themselves 'mutants', the next step in 'human evolution'. Mutants possessed 'powers', which manifested in a variety of ways. Jean, for instance, could move things with her mind, and Professor Xavier could read minds. Roxas understood these concepts. What he didn't understand was that they thought him a mutant as well.

When he was interviewed by the Professor, before his mind was read, he was told that he had been examined, x-rayed and CAT-scanned. They had found he had no heart, and yet his blood was still flowing normally. Roxas thought he knew something about hearts, but couldn't bring it to mind as the Professor went on to explain that the heart, in a human being, is a vital organ, one that pumps blood through the body and is the centre of emotional feeling. To be alive without one was something unheard of in nature. The only explanation that could be offered was that Roxas was a mutant, which he was told fit with his strange appearance.

But...he wasn't a 'mutant'. He was sure of it.

He groaned, the problem of his amnesia causing a headache as it spun in his head.

"Are you alright?" Called Jean.

"I'm fine." He called back. "Just sore."

He decided to try thinking about something else. He reached into his pocket and brought out a seashell. It was a small seashell, about half the size of his palm, but he took it everywhere. He had tried once or twice over the time he had been moving about to leave it in his room, but he had only ever made it a few steps before feeling overwhelmed with panic for it.

He clenched a fist. It didn't matter what he thought about, it all came back to him not remembering anything.

He looked outside. It was two o'clock at most. He wished he had something to do. He wasn't bored so much as tired of being in a body that didn't work right. He would be so bored if he knew what he liked to do with his day—

Again, back to not remembering.

He sighed. He needed something to keep his mind off this. He thought about what the other kids might be doing right now. They would be studying. This was a school, after all.

_That's it!_ He lifted his head. _I'll study!_

He called to Jean, suddenly feeling more energetic.

"Yes Roxas?"

"Can you take me to the Professor?"

"Sure. Why, did you want to ask him something?"

"Yeah, but—." He grunted as he tried to stand with Jean's help. "But I'd like to ask him myself."

He took hold of the walker and followed Jean's lead.

Of course he should study while he's here, it's a school! It was the most obvious thing. He felt something resembling giddiness. The idea was so simple and obvious, yet brilliant. She would have laughed herself off the tower if she—

—_heard that. Wait...who?_

"Roxas?" Roxas looked to Jean, who had stopped. No, he had stopped. He was remembering something! But then, the Professor had said this would happen.

"It's nothing. Let's go."

But who was _she_?

* * *

"I beg your pardon?" Xavier sounded pleasantly surprised. Why wouldn't he be? He had just been asked by a youth to be allowed to study alongside the students of the school.

"I want to learn. I've got nothing else to do, and I've never...I mean, I _think_ I've never been to school before. Can I?"

"Well, first we have to find how much you know." Xavier motored his wheelchair over to his desk. "It would defeat the purpose to put you in a class and only then find you haven't the basic understanding of the material." Xavier reached down to open a drawer.

"Uh, yeah, sure."

Xavier opened the drawer and brought a laptop up to the desk. Setting it down, he opened it and pressed the power button.

"Have any of your memories returned?" Xavier asked, not looking at Roxas.

Roxas cast his mind back to the last half hour, when he was in the garden. He wasn't sure if he had remembered anything. Sure, something came to mind, but it left as soon as it came, like a shadow in the corner of his eye.

"No." He answered, his response a little hesitant.

"Are you sure?" Xavier looked up at him this time, obviously picking up on Roxas' hesitation.

"Yes." Roxas voice was steady this time.

Xavier began typing in his password, and began to type and click through the files. He looked like he was thinking deeply as he went through the material before him.

The room seemed suddenly quiet, the clicking of Xavier's mouse adding to the awkward silence. Roxas tried not to look at the headmaster, but the look he wore on his face was disconcerting. Xavier suddenly looked up, startling him. After a stunned moment, Xavier gave a light laugh.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to worry you. I have had a lot on my mind lately." He made a few more clicks before sitting back. "Ah, here it is. Now, the printer..."

He motored over to his printer in the corner of the room and pressed the on button, then going back to his laptop and waiting a second for the printer to register the information he wanted to print.

"These are some simple tests," Xavier explained as the printer worked. "To determine how much you know of mathematics, language, and many other school studies." The printer finished, and he collected and squared the paper.

"Do you have a pen?" Roxas asked. Xavier laughed gently.

"You not going to do the test here, Roxas, it will take you too long. I have many things to take care of, in my office, and around the school, and so do you." He put the paper into a folder before motoring around to where Roxas sat. "Here."

Roxas took hold of the folder, opening it to look at the many pages inside. He felt daunted by the amount of work presented to him, but he said nothing out of politeness.

"Thank you." He said instead.

"No, thank you." He gave Roxas a warm smile. "It isn't every day that a young man seeks knowledge, instead of taking the bits and pieces the world may give him. You, Roxas, are special in a way that goes beyond being a mutant, or even a cognitive being. You have a thirst for knowledge, and I hope that it stays healthy in you."

Roxas' face reddened at the headmaster's praise, looking away in humility.

"Thanks." He said again, a lot quieter.

Xavier nodded. "Now, off you go to study." His gaze went beyond anything in front of him as he summoned Jean telepathically. Jean had left at Roxas' request, as he had wanted to ask for his education privately. She entered with respectful form, holding her head level except when looking at the Professor.

"Jean, take Roxas back to his room. He has a lot of work to do."

Jean complied, helping Roxas to his feet. Roxas managed the feat with much more ease this time, his sprits having been lifted and his body feeling the most energetic it had ever been. Well, as far as he knew, anyway.

They made their way outside, where another instructor at the school, Logan being his name, was waiting to go inside to the Professor's office. Roxas and Logan locked eyes for a moment, Logan's face showing mistrust and Roxas' defensiveness. They moved on, Roxas looking behind him as Logan went into the office and shut the door behind him.

Did Logan dislike him for something? Had he done something wrong when they had first been introduced? Actually, Logan was like that then, as well, not saying a word to him when Xavier was introducing the senior staff of the school.

Roxas decided to put it from his mind. He had something to do now, and he was going to leap at it.

"You're moving fast all of a sudden."

Roxas looked up at Jean as they walked, replying to the observation with a kind smile.

"I'm going to start learning here." He said.

Jean stopped. "Really?" She asked, genuinely happy. "That's great news." She resumed walking alongside Roxas. "Just remember, there's no talking in class. Even if the other students want to talk."

Roxas nodded. He wasn't knew to being asked questions by the students of the school, so he had learned a few ways to get out of a conversation. Or did she mean no talking back as well? Oh, well. Only one way to find out.

"Something about him isn't right. That's all the explanation I have."

Xavier had been patiently arguing the matter of Roxas presence in the school for the last quarter hour. Xavier didn't dismiss Logan's 'feelings', he had too much respect for him, and Logan's feelings had proven invaluable in the past. But keeping the boy under lock and key?

"What you are asking of me is far too extreme for me to accept your instincts as justification. We can observe him closely, but we cannot infringe on his growth as a person. It would fly in the face of the very principles I built this institute upon."

Logan sighed. Well, grunted. It was an in-between sound. He let the tension go in his shoulders, and folded his arms loosely. Xavier could see he didn't want to give up the issue, but he saw no sensible way to continue.

"Alright," He restrained himself from saying more.

"Logan, I know he seems suspicious..." Xavier trailed off as the tension in Logan's shoulders returned. Xavier read this as him taking offence to being patronised.

"I meant no offense." He placated. "I was saying that I have found something troubling also, but even my own suspicions do not warrant suspicion of him."

"What did you find?" Logan asked, interested in finding evidence for his argument.

"I'll tell you tonight, when Scott, Jean, and Ororo have finished their classes." Xavier answered.

Satisfied, Logan gave a nod before turning to the door. He opened it and left, leaving Xavier a moment of peace. He looked at his clock. It was getting close to dinner. He should be on his way to the dining room.

* * *

**Okay, chapter two up. Going on a two week minimum for updates, just so everyone knows; in case of writers block, which I have actually hit with my other story, Seven Days Till Friendship. But that story doesn't need to be finished in a hurry, as it is a lead up to another story. Regardless, back to SealedUnsealed:**

**My biggest fear is over-playing the 'amnesia/trying-to-remember' aspect of Roxas at the moment, which is actually harder to play out than it would seem; I have to put it in frequently enough to avoid info dumps, while at the same time not keep shoving it in everyone's faces.**

**Review replies:**

**UltAce; Won't be able to do that particular battle, regardless of how epic it would be. The Organisation isn't showing up for a _long_ time; got to introduce and tie up Magneto yet (I know I mentioned G.U.N, but they will be taken care of 'off camera', so to speak. Erik vs Charles is the bread and butter of ever x-men story). And don't worry about X23 and Roxas being rushed, I'll keep it realistic, for whatever that's worth in a story as fictional as this.**

**(UPDATE: Spellcheck corrections)**


	3. Chapter Three

Roxas dug into his breakfast. It was his first day of school today. The Professor had announced it at lunch yesterday, Roxas having handed in the tests after one and a half days of going through the pages, albeit with some help from Scott. He could do the material, he just needed some explaining of a few mathematic symbols and some words. He had no idea of emotional context or social sciences. Regardless, Xavier had determined he was at an adequate level of education to join the other students in class. Starting today.

He gulped down his orange juice, something he was told was named after a fruit, and not the colour. Setting it down, he caught a glance from a girl a few seats down from him. She looked away, staring at her food. Roxas had seen her around the school, catching her glances and stares, which were a little weird, he had to admit. Her name was X23, as she had introduced herself. She was about as friendly as Logan was when he was introduced to them all, except Logan had at least said more than a few words.

After that, Scott had apologised for her behaviour, saying it was nothing personal. Roxas had asked what he meant by 'personal', but the explanation was a little hard to make sense of. From what he could understand, Scott thought that his 'feelings' might have been hurt. Feelings. Roxas wasn't ignorant of the concept, he knew how to phrase hurt and anger, happiness and joy, just not how or in what situations they fit. Like how he looked at one of the Professor's physics equations and could only read the numbers and a few of the equations. Anyway, he figured out Scott's concern, and said it was alright. He just found it interesting, really. Especially when X23 started the behaviour that he found so amusing. She would stare and steal glances, like a few moments ago, and other times she would follow him around. She would jump from place to place around the school, not being seen by anyone, but Roxas could spot her every time. He never said anything, he never even looked at her, not directly at least. He just let her follow him around, staying out of sight of everyone except him. He would even ask Jean or Scott to help him move over to another part of the room, just to get her to move somewhere else in the room. It was fun. At least until Logan walked in and called her out. Logan wasn't much fun.

Roxas took another bite out of the meal in front of him, leaving only a few more mouthfuls to go. He ate through them and put down his utensils triumphantly, gaining an odd look from some of the other teens at the table, 'teens' being what Scott and some of the other older people at the school called them. He thought about what he should do. Some of the teens smiled and went back to their food while others kept staring. Maybe smiling was what he should do. He contracted his cheeks, stretching his lips out. The other teens went back to their food with either an odd look or a smile of their own.

How about that? It worked.

He sat back and looked around the room. There were quite a few items on display. Vases, paintings, furniture with draws and cabinets, rugs on the floor, and lots of plants were all over the room. Actually, all over the school. Roxas had a dream the other night, where he was in a place that didn't have any of this; just white all along the empty halls. He had felt some confusing things during the dream, but he had since decided to put them and other things related to 'remembering' aside. They didn't make him happy. Hey, he had figured out what made him...what was it? Unhappy! Right. Got it and memorised it. Anyway, as he looked around the room he now sat in, he thought that the empty white halls made more sense than these cluttered ones. Were any of these things used? At all? It all seemed a little pointless to have them all splayed around like this. He decided he would bring this up with the Professor the next time they talked.

There was a chime from the grandfather clock which stood against the far wall of the room, which was echoed by the other clocks in the adjacent rooms, culminating in a chaotic chorus of chimes, tunes, and deep tones. Roxas pushed himself back in his chair at a much slower speed than everyone else as they all got up for their first class of the day. One of the other students, Bobby, helped Roxas to his feet, having taken over the 'job' at Jean's request, as she had classes to lead and he and Roxas shared the same classes now. Once on his feet, he and Bobby went their ways to their class, Roxas still needing to use the wheelchair access. Roxas didn't need so much help with walking now, though his pace was still agonisingly slow.

His first class was algebra math, with Miss Munroe, on the upper floor. He felt that he should start referring to them more formally, since they were his teachers now and Miss Munroe and Miss Grey seemed to like it a lot, and the Professor just seemed impressed. Mr. Summers hated it though. The wheelchair access helped him avoid the stairs, and he made his way to the class in enough time, Miss Munroe holding off beginning until he got there.

"Roxas, come in." Miss Munroe welcomed. "There are some open seats over there." She gestured to the seats to the front left corner of the room. He hobbled over, avoiding the slightly impatient looks from the other students. After an embarrassing attempt to seat himself casually, and setting his walker to the side, he brought out the books for this class and Miss Munroe began.

Roxas was soon surprised about how much you actually had to do while learning in a classroom; Miss Munroe had them turning pages, standing and reading, though only reading in Roxas' case, even writing on the blackboards set up in the room. Roxas was fascinated by all of it. He couldn't wait for his body to get better!

He did as he was told concerning what Miss Grey had told him, about not talking in class. Some of the other students whispered and muttered to him, or amongst themselves, and a note was passed back and forth while Miss Munroe wasn't looking. Most of these whispers were about how hard the class was, which Roxas didn't openly agree with, but was still a little flustered about what was being taught. He still understood it well enough, so he just blamed it on getting into class midyear, as the Professor had said when assigning his classes.

At the third chime of the clock during class, Miss Munroe told everyone to finish writing down their notes and pack their things back into their bags. Roxas looked at the clock and thought about what time he had gotten to class. What was it that that Kurt guy said? Time flies when you're having fun? Well, whatever he said, Roxas had just been given proof. School was better than he had thought. The students all walked to Miss Munroe before leaving the room. Bobby again helped Roxas to his feet and then went on. Roxas shuffled to the door.

"Roxas."

He half turned to look at Miss Munroe, his muscles grinding in protest. She was standing up at the desk in front and to the right of the right most blackboard, squaring some sheets of paper. "Yes?" He asked through a grimacing face.

"You forgot these." She walked across the room and handed him the few sheets of paper. "It's homework."

"Home work?" Roxas said slowly, confused. "What is it?"

"It's learning material you complete after school," She explained. "Just put it in your bag for now."

"Thanks." He said, smiling. More to learn. He pulled out his bag and put the paper in his folder, and Miss Munroe walked back to the desk. He left the room and made his way to his next class, increasing his stride a little to make up for time. Wheelchair access meant a scenic route this time, but he made it in enough time not to inconvenience anyone over much; physical education, with Mr Logan.

Roxas opened the door and walked in, interrupting Mr Logan in the middle of an explanation of what was drawn on the blackboard beside him.

"Glad you could join us. Take a seat."

Roxas took the gruff instruction in stride. It wasn't new, the way Mr Logan behaved toward him, but it was starting to put Roxas off a little. Roxas classified the feeling as 'annoyed', though he did feel a hint of something else, he couldn't tell what. He took a seat at the front right of the arranged seats, setting his walker to the side again.

Mr Logan picked up from where he left off, with Roxas still getting out the material for this class. He caught up in time, and the class went smoothly, with a lot more involvement from the students; there was a lot of pointing to things on the board, which had four posters hanging on it depicting the human body, two of the muscles without the skin, one from the front and the other on the side, and two more with just the skeleton, again from the front and side.

Roxas couldn't figure the point of what was being taught. It was just the names of bones, muscles, how to stretch them, how to take care of cramps, stuff that Roxas called to mind as they were said; he must have learned this before losing his memory, like how to read, write, and do math. Xavier had explained this was how amnesia worked in most cases.

Again, the class was over quickly, at least according to him. The students filed out as before, walking to Mister Logan's desk, which Roxas now understood to be them collecting their homework. Roxas did the same, no words being spoken between himself and Mister Logan. He left the room and pulled his time table out of his bag.

Time for lunch.

He walked through the halls to the grounds, where he was told lunch would be today, and helped himself down the wheelchair access at the front doors. He spotted the large tables and fold up seats set up far to the right, in the middle of the grass yard. The table was laid with barbecue and grill, with some salads as well. The smell was mouth-watering.

He was greeted by the other students as he approached, some offering handshakes and pats on the back, congratulating him on joining 'mutant high'. He grabbed some food for himself between congratulations and went off to find a seat. He seated himself a little away from everyone else, on the last chair down the far left, while everyone else sat in the middle or on the right, closer to the food. He felt more comfortable like this, observing people rather than chatting.

"How come you're sitting all the way down here?"

Roxas looked up at the source of the voice; Kitty.

"Felt like eating on my own, I guess."

She sat down beside him, placing two pieces of bacon on his plate. "There you go."

"Thanks, I guess." He looked at the red-brown meat strips. He had tried them before, and found he didn't like them very much; too...salty.

"How were your first two classes?"

"Oh," Roxas sat up and spoke with enthusiasm. "Miss Munroe's class was great; she helped us out on some of the problems and—."

"Are you seriously going to call her that?" Kitty's face was caught between scrutiny and laughter. "Cause it's a little weird."

"Why?"

Kitty looked caught off guard by the question.

"It just is."

"How come?"

"Because..." She suddenly looked around herself at the other students. "Hey, Rogue! Come here!"

She waved over at her friend, who was making a sudden effort to evade attention. After a second call from Kitty, she relented and approached.

"Yeah?" She asked wearily.

"You and Roxas have social studies after lunch. You think you could give him a few notes to get him up to speed?"

"What for? He's been doing fine."

"Huh?" Roxas didn't remember seeing her in either of his classes this morning. "What do you mean?"

"X-girl's been asking around." Rogue explained with a smile.

"You don't say..." Kitty's gaze drifted to X23. Roxas had seen a few people do that when this subject came up; X23's—X-girl, they liked to say—habit of keeping an eye on him when he was around. He had no idea why they smiled. It wasn't a smile like his, one of amusement at some funny hide and seek games. It was...like...they all knew something that neither of them did.

"Anyway, do you think you could?" Kitty pressed.

"I guess." Rogue walked over to where her bag was and then brought it back over. "No offense," She said, bringing out the notes. "But I don't think you've got much hope on catching up, not feeling and all."

"Hey, Rogue." Kitty objected. "Come on, that's unfair."

"What? He doesn't have a heart. It's his mutation."

"That doesn't mean you can say it like it's a disadvantage."

"Uh," Roxas began, trying to get a word in. "What do you mean disadvantage?"

"She doesn't mean anything." Kitty said assuringly. Rogue looked put in a huff.

"Fine." She turned to leave.

"No, wait..." Roxas tried, but she just walked away. He looked from Rogue to Kitty and back again. "What just happened?"

"She just said something mean, that's all."

"What...?" Roxas was confused.

"Never mind. Eat up, we've only got twenty minutes left."

Roxas sighed and did as instructed, though he and Kitty didn't speak for the rest of lunch. He finished in enough time to get going to the next class. He waved to Bobby, and after being helped up, thanked him for his help and set off at his slow pace.

His muscles ached as he worked his way up the stairs, the day beginning to take its toll on him. He grunted as he pushed his body to keep going, determined to make it through the day. He made it to social studies in time, knocking on the door to be let in. He felt like just that one knock was an effort now. Stupid recovering body...

"Come in."

Great, now he had to open it himself. He lifted his arm and turned the knob, his biceps feeling drained. He opened the door and was greeted by Miss Munroe again. There were only a few teachers at the school, so they had to lead multiple subjects, but fortunately there were also very few students, so they weren't over tasked.

He took his seat, a lot more clumsily this time, and got out the material for this class, along with the notes he got from Rogue. He set them down and started to follow along with the lesson. He soon found out what Rogue meant about not having much hope; he didn't understand half the questions. Not even that, the things that the questions depicted were nonsensical to him. He got by answering the etiquette and custom questions, but he knew he would have to ask for some clarification after class.

The class ended none too soon, bringing a sigh of relief from Roxas. He stood, again with Bobby's help, and went to Miss Munroe for his homework.

Handing it to him she said, "Roxas, the Proffessor would like you to go to his office instead of your last class for today."

Roxas nodded and put the papers in his folder. He exited the classroom, pulling out his timetableagain. He read that he had three more classes, not too far from one another, so he should be able to hold up. Two more, then the Professor's office.

The two final classes fell by the way side in recollection as his body became more exhausted. He decided he would go over his notes tomorrow morning to catch whatever he missed. Mr. Summers handled the next class, driver education, and Miss Grey the next one, home economics. He left his last class for the day and made his way to the Professor's office.

* * *

"You look exhausted."

Roxas half grunted in reply, taking the same seat as the last time. He landed with a thud in the chair, leaning back and almost drifting into a dreamless sleep as he allowed himself to rest on the fabric.

"Would you like some water?"

"Yes, please."

Xavier went over to his water cooler in the corner of the room and poured a cup. He brought it over to Roxas who took it wearily, taking slow sips. As Xavier moved back over to the other side of the desk, Roxas noted a deeper concern in the Professor's features, something off. It was the same look as when Xavier was sitting at his laptop the other day.

"Is something wrong?" Roxas asked.

"Roxas," Xavier began, but then trailed off. He sat a little back from his desk, his elbows resting on his arm rests and fingers steepled in front of his down turned face. Unlike last time, his expression wasn't getting any better. "Your amnesia is...more complex than I had first assumed."

"What do you mean?" Roxas felt some energy returning to him, the air of the room suddenly anxious.

Xavier looked up into Roxas eyes and spoke.

* * *

**Okay, next chapter, things start to pick up a little before bringing in some more characters.**

**Not trying for anything dramatic with the end of this chapter, just saving Roxas feelings on being told of what it is that Xavier found for the next chapter. It'll be a good way to introduce him and X23 a little more openly.**

**Review replies:**

**Megaman Zero 2.0: For future reference, when I said 'two week minimum', I meant I am not going to post before two weeks. It can take longer to write a chapter, depending on what happens during the weeks (work and the like).**

**Karasu25: Roxas' powers are going to manifest soon, and the keyblade as well, maybe at the end of the next chapter somewhere. Won't be anything dramatic or shocking, just something that makes everyone a little more suspicious of his origins.**


	4. Chapter Four

Roxas sat on his bed after his second day of school, staring at the seashell. The classes, conversation, everything had gone by in a depressed blur.

_'Roxas, your memories haven't been suppressed by trauma. They were erased, forcefully._

_ 'Your memories may never return. Ever.'_

His memories may never return. He may never know who he is, where he is from.

He knew this shouldn't get him down so much—he was happy here, as far as he could feel the sensation, and he was around people who could help with this—, but it just felt so...frustrating. Like, in the back of his head somewhere, he knew he had been missing something before, but couldn't remember what it was, or what he had lost this time, and...

_Argh!_

He clutched his head as a spear shot through his mind. Again with the brain pain! Every time he tried to remember, it happened, and he lost what he was trying to remember—.

"Headaches?"

Roxas was startled, but stayed in his position, head clutched between his hands and doubled over. A moment passed, and he recognised who was there. Not by the voice, but from the presence.

"X23." He greeted. He righted himself, making eye contact with his guest.

"Well?"

"Oh," He stammered, realising he was supposed to say something, "I thought you were being reta...retorec...uh..."

"Rhetorical?"

"Yeah."

X23 shifted her weight, folding her arms a little tighter. Roxas suddenly felt...what was it? He'd read a description of it not four hours ago. Weird? No, that wasn't...awkward! Yes, that's it!

Awkward.

It wasn't pleasant.

He felt like he should say something. What? How about;

"I've seen you watching me around the school."

There was a sudden roar of laughter throughout the dormitory. X23's face suddenly changed shades twice, first pink then red.

Roxas looked back and forth from X23 and the door in panicked bewilderment. What did he do? Why was everyone laughing?

_Was it something I said?_

X23 turned and left, her feet causing a frightening _thump_ with each step.

"I can't believe you said that!" Someone shouted.

"What?" Roxas shouted back. "What did I say?"

"Epic fail!" Shouted someone else.

Roxas sat silently staring out the doorway. He had never felt so confused. What _had_ just _happened_? What was she upset about?

"Could someone _please_ tell me what's going on?"

There were only chuckles this time, whatever joke it was going around finally getting old. He heard someone step out into the hall and approach his room. The person poked his head around; Kurt, without his disguise activated, blue fur and pointed ears visible with the biggest smile he had seen.

"Look, just go apologise to her. You'll figure it out later, trust me."

Roxas stayed staring as Kurt disappeared from his doorway. After a moment, he regained some sense of function in the moment. He should go apologise for whatever he just did. He shuffled over to the end of the bed and reached for his walker.

He hesitated. He looked at the walker. He looked down at his legs. Then back at the walker.

He had a...feeling...that he knew exactly what to do...

* * *

X23 was stomping around on the front yard, halfway between the fountain and the forest grounds. Normally she would be...hesitant to stay outside at night, especially on her own, for fear—_concern_ that S.H.I.E.L.D, G.U.N, or someone else might try to steal her away in the night, but right now, she was too furious to give a damn.

_How_ could he have just...just..._said_ that? Seriously? How?

She screamed and kicked the air in front of her. Then again. Before she knew it, she was outright attacking the atmosphere with everything she had, claws and all. She let loose as days, weeks, of frustrations boiled over; why was this guy so...so...

"_Argghh!_"

She just didn't know! She felt so tense around him, on her guard, and she didn't know why! When she had started watching him, she couldn't stop. When she moved to question him about anything, she hesitated and...retreated. That's what she was doing! Her! Retreating! From him!

What.

The hell.

Was going on?

Her rage subsided, the confusion fuelling it spent. She stood there. She retracted her claws, feeling the faint sensation of healing through the numbed nerves in her forearms and feet. She belatedly noticed the similarity between the sensation in her extremities and the feeling inside herself, or rather, the lack thereof. She felt numb. had resorted to fighting, lashing out, and it had done nothing.

Just like when she was being forged into the new Weapon X.

She hated this. _Hated_ it. No control over herself, what she thought or felt. These were the moments in her life when she had wanted to cry, wanted so desperately to do something instead of dwell on how she felt. So...stuck? Helpless?

She felt her eyes water. She hated this.

She hated _him_.

Cold air stabbed at her sinuses, a shooting sensation that caused her to press the sides of her nose out of reflex. She held the feeling, almost savouring it. She took as a cue to head back in—an excuse to move forward out of the moment. She turned around and walked to the front doors. She noticed that she was looking at the ground as she walked.

She clenched her fists.

She was a fighter. She would not hang her head. She would have her head high and alert.

Those few words of determination in her mind brought back the fight in her, the heat and aggression in her chest. She inhaled, puffing out her chest with pride and raising her head to scan the area with all her razor sharp, super human senses.

She saw a blonde boy crawling on his knees across the grass.

"Roxas!" She ran over to him, faster than she intended. "What are you doing?"

Roxas stopped. He fell back on his legs, sitting in a slumped position on the grass. X23 grabbed him by his shoulders before taking his face in her hands. He looked whiter than a sheet of paper, and he looked like he was ready to drop dead from getting out here.

Wait, where was his...?

"Where's your walker?"

"...didn't...need it..."

_What?_

"You _idiot_!" She rose her head to the upper floor windows. "Logan!" She screamed. "_Logan!_"

"...tell you..."

"What?" X23 looked down at Roxas who was starting to lose even more colour in his face; he was burning up with a fever and his cheeks felt like ice.

"...I...wanted to...tell..."

"Will you _shut up?_"

"What's going on out here?"

Ororo, Logan, and Scott ran out to them, Logan grabbing Roxas up off the ground and running him inside without a word.

"What was he doing out here?" Scott asked.

"I don't know. He was..." The reason hit her. "He was trying to say sorry."

"What?"

X23 didn't get it either. Why didn't he just tell her later? It was halfway through autumn, the air was hypothermic. Stepping out at night in his condition was stupid.

Ororo went back inside after a moment, and Scott took a step to follow. "Come on," He said. "It's late, and Logan might need some help."

X23 stood where she was a moment longer in her confusion. She shook her head, a physical idiom to dispel a mental impediment, and marched inside. She remembered her earlier resolve, holding her head up, and decided to take up Scott's suggestion that Logan might need help with the stupid kid.

* * *

Roxas had lost consciousness not soon after Logan picked him up. He had come close to practically freezing out there, the cold air having hit him harder than was first thought. Though out of danger of further elemental exposure, it was still possible he might develop a sickness from this, even pneumonia.

X23 had taken to keeping an eye on Roxas' condition while Logan and Scott dispersed the crowd of students that had gathered outside the first-aid room. Afterward, both Scott and Logan were called away by Professor Xavier, for whatever reason. That was ten minutes ago. She had since stopped with her monitoring and gone back to what she did when he was first in this room. Watching him turn in his sleep.

The first thing she had noticed was that he was a lot healthier now. He had gained weight, though he was still underweight for his size, and his wounds had healed fully after having being properly cleaned and bandaged, leaving only a few minor scars where he was hit the worst.

Roxas stirred and muttered something. It was so quiet that it barely came out as more than a breath. She could read his lips to see that he had whispered that word again; Xion. Xavier asked about that the first time he woke, but as is the cliché, he didn't remember anything about it, whatever dreams that were in his head fading back into his subconscious.

She hoped this time would be different, that he would be able to shed some light on himself and who he was before coming here. It seemed more appealing to trying to understand why he had just done _this_.

The other students thought he just an idiot, which she agreed with on the surface, but what he had said, about apologising, told her it was a little more than that. She had asked Logan, but he put it off as a stupid mistake as well. The other teachers said he must have overreacted to how he humiliated her, the news of what was said in the boys dorm reaching their ears surprisingly fast.

Either way, she had to know. It was too confusing not to have an explanation. Although she had noted she wasn't thinking so much about how off-put she felt when he was awake.

She picked up a sound coming from a few halls away. Logan's distinct footfall. How he pulled off stealth, she had no idea. He got to the first-aid room after a minute and walked through the door.

"Any change?"

"No." She answered in a soldier's tone. "Any luck on finding out who put him up to this?" Logan had a suspicion that this wasn't entirely Roxas idea, but X23 didn't believe it. Anyone stupid enough to say _that_ to _anyone_...

Logan sighed and stood beside her. "You don't have to stay here. It wasn't your fault."

"I know that." She snapped. "It's just..."

"You're worried. That's what happens when someone gets hurt doing something for you. Don't let it get you down, but don't shut it out either."

She didn't answer. He made sense, but she didn't want to leave.

"It's not a suspicion, is it?"

"What?"

Logan was looking at her seriously. "It's more than that."

She suddenly felt her stomach lurch. What did he mean? What was he about to say?

"You think he got just as bad as what we did."

She felt relief at that. She didn't know why, but she did. "Yeah." She hadn't thought of that at all, but now that he had brought it up; he shows up with no memory, badly injured. He could have been experimented on like the two of them.

"Don't worry." He assured her. "He's in the right place. No one can get to him. Not here." He gave her a nudge. "Not with you watchin' him."

She softly fisted his arm. She smiled. Logan always made her smile.

"I'm going on a mission." He turned to face her. "Me and the others are leaving tonight."

"What's the mission?" She asked, turning to him. "Magneto again?"

"No. Rogue mutants, but not the usual kind."

"Fugitives." She knew from personal experience that they were difficult to help. She was one, once. "I should go with you."

"No. S.H.I.E.L.D might jump on the chance, those G.U.N guys as well. You stay here."

She nodded. She still wanted to go, but he was right. It was too risky.

Logan nodded back and walked out. She watched him go before turning back to Roxas. He was better than stable now, but wasn't going to wake for a while, though, so she had to find something to pass her time other than watching him. Hell, she could sculpt his face from clay at this point.

She walked over to the small bedside table, upon which was a notebook and two pens, one black the other blue. She remembered the forest on the school grounds. Perhaps now would be a good time to start...but what to paint—well, draw, this time—first?

She looked around, avoiding looking at the blonde imbecile on the bed, and spotted a small stack of books.

That would do.

She took the notebook and the black pen, and sat in the chair next to the bed and settled her body into a comfortable position, so she wouldn't shift around too much, and then put pen to paper. She made a few lines each time before looking up at the stack of books, quickly examining the part she was going to sketch next.

"...why did...it choose..."

She looked up at him from her sketching. No tears this time, just more turning in his sleep. She decided to begin ignoring what he said in his sleep, as nothing new could come from it that Xavier couldn't find out through telepathy.

She sat there, drawing, as the hours passed.

* * *

_ "Your mind's made up?"_

_ There were dark streets, buildings with lights switched on for a populace that didn't exist, a city that bustled with inactivity. He was leaving that place._

_ "Why did the Keyblade choose me?"_

_ He was atop a tower, fighting an armoured foe. Then in a gloomy sinkhole, then a tearoom, then a cave. He was fighting for his life._

_ "Xion! Stop this! Please!"_

_ He stood at the base of the tower, looking at the seashell. He saw water falling to the ground, and he felt a pain in his throat and a heat in his eyes._

_ "Xion..."_

_ He stood across from another boy, with silver grey hair and a blindfold. He hated him. It was his fault. And for what? For who?_

_ "Sora! Sora! Sora! Enough about Sora!"_

_ Then he stood over the blindfolded boy, who stared up at him, the anger in his eyes burning through the cloth and into him._

_ "Why? Why do you have the Keyblade?"_

_ Why? Because he was the Nobody of the all-important Keyblade wielder? Because the Keyblade wielder was too busy elsewhere to hold it himself?_

_ Because she was a puppet that pulled its own strings in the end?_

_ Because she sacrificed her everything for his nothing..._

_ "Roxas...don't be sad..."_

* * *

**Okay, I know I said the Keyblade might show up soon, and I tried and _tried_ to fit it into this chapter, and the next one, but it completely screwed with everything; it needs to be a situation where he would _ reflexively_ bring it out, instead of on a whim. I've gone through a few scenarios, but I'm leaning very close to saying, "screw-this-he-gets-it-when-Magneto-gets-his-arse-kicked-for-the-first-time!". *sigh***_  
_

**Oh, well...I can't promise anything, other than he'll be using the Oblivion and Oath Keeper.**

**Also, last bit about Xion is a small tribute to 'The Puppets Were Free', by Ultimate Black Ace. Check it out if you like, it has an interesting alternate veiw on the roles of the characters of 358/2 Days.**


	5. Chapter Five

_**Two days ago, 10:12pm. Xavier's office;**_

_Scott, Jean, Logan, and Ororo sat around the front of Xavier's desk, listening intently. "Roxas' memories were forcibly erased—."_

_ "So it's not amnesia?" Scott interrupted._

_ "Let me finish, please. They were erased, but not by a telepath. There is no evidence of telepathic access or imprint."_

_ "Imprint?" Asked Ororo._

_ "Though telepathy cannot be felt by people who are not telepaths, it does leave traces of the telepaths presence. Like a scent, or echo. More to the point, it's not a trace that can be removed. I've tried, and so have many others. All it does is leave more of a trace. It's impossible."_

_ "So then…how?" Logan sounded impatient for answers._

_ "I don't know. But it does rule out the possibility of bringing back his memories via telepathic therapy. And since remembering on his own causes him great pain, perhaps whatever means was used to remove his memories left his mind damaged in some way. He may never remember what we want to know of him."_

_ "What about when he sleeps?" Jean asked. "He was muttering about a 'keyblade axel' and an organisation. Can you work with that?"_

_ Xavier sat back and thought for a moment. "It's possible…though in my experience whether or not someone was awake during a session has not made a difference."_

_ "Are you going to tell him this?"_

_ "That his memories may not return? Yes. He deserves to know." He was silent a moment before turning to Logan. "Perhaps you should encourage X23 to speak with him; he may need as much support as available when he begins to deal with this knowledge."_

_ "Fine." Logan's face soured slightly, but he sounded sympathetic. "Anything else?"_

_ "Yes, Logan. It's about something I've caught wind of via Cerebro."_

_ "We've got a mission?" Scott asked enthusiastically._

_ "Yes. We've also got a problem…"_

* * *

He ran. He ran for his life. Nothing new for him, although this was the first time he was running for his life outside of training. He was escaping, with her. She was pulled along by the wrist, haplessly trying to keep up. She was scared, more scared than he had ever seen her, and she was the most steadfast and brave person he knew.

"Shadow!" She gasped, short of breath. "Slow down!"

"We can't, Maria." He answered matter-of-factly. "We have to gain as much ground as possible." He was trying to sound in control of things, but if it did anything to calm her, it wasn't visible.

They rounded a corner and quickly ducked back around. A posse of guards, all armed. Maria muttered a suggestion, but he paid no heed. They would take too long to take out, and he couldn't do so without tipping the facility off to what was going on.

He looked around frantically, scanning for an air duct, or some other sort of alternate route.

There was a sudden claxon of sirens and alarm lights. Had they been discovered so soon? Did their handlers notice them missing already?

Subject PME-2439-C70N4 is resisting testing. Subject has become violent. Secure Test Are PT-59.

The guards set off toward the instructed area. Whatever was going on, it was good timing. He grabbed her wrist again and started running. She tugged back, trying to pull free for some reason. He stopped and looked back.

"…Have to…" She was completely out of breath. "Help…her…"

"Who? Do you know that test subject?"

"They're hurting her. You have to help her."

"Maria…"

"Shadow, please!"

He looked at her as she burned him with pleading eyes. Damn it...

* * *

Maria remembered her many times with Shadow, comforting and reassuring each other, telling the other not to think about what just happened or has happened or will happen. She knew from those many times that she shouldn't think about what had just happened but it seemed to incredible to resist.

The horror-escape movie genre was very much overplayed, but when one was in it, it felt exactly how it looked; terrifying. Granted there were none of the horror monsters or characters present, the ones that she sometimes heard or read about, but the ambient danger was there. If they were caught, they were dead. Plain and horrifically simple.

She curled into herself as a guard went by. She was in a storage room, huddled underneath a stack of crates not due to be moved until 17:45 tomorrow. Shadow had gone off to rescue her as she asked, after hiding her where she now hid. Since then, several more alarms had gone off, with messages detailing new orders. The last one said to lock down the entire facility. Where was he? Was he alright?

An explosion rocked the facility. Alarms sounded again.

Hull breech! Hull breech! Atmospheric pressure compromised! Evacuate unsecured areas!

The message kept repeating this time, and there was a slight breeze in the air. She braved poking her head out of hiding, and spotted some people frantically applying some oxygen masks to themselves. They hurried off as soon as they got them on, one of them rushing along the others. Once they were gone, there was nothing but the security cameras watching the room. Would the people running them have left to seek safety somewhere?

Before she could argue an answer from herself, Shadow leapt into the room. She would have missed it entirely had she not known what to look for. She was with him. He'd saved her! Crona was safe! He left her where he had jumped into the room and made his way over to where she hid.

"I've got her. Let's go." He grabbed her by the wrist again and helped her up gently. She did her best to keep up with his movements, but she was only human, whereas he was a step above. He led her out of the room, and down a variety of halls, with Crona in tow. She looked pretty shaken, but she was going to have to hold it together, at least until they were all out of here.

Speaking of which.

"Shadow, how are we getting out?" The original plan was a crate, but they were only big enough for two people. With Crona present, that wasn't going to work. "Where are we going?"

"You'll see." Came the dry reply. That was Shadow's idea of humour. They rounded another corner and stopped at a door. He punched in a code and the door opened to an escape pod bay. He hurried her and Crona through before walking through and closing the door behind him. He quickly set to work on the nearest escape pod, unlocking it manually and setting a different destination from the pre-programmed rally point.

The pod popped open, and he started getting Crona in first, motioning for Maria to help coax her. She complied soon enough and Maria hopped in next. She was about to sit down when the door to the bay burst open.

G.U.N soldiers. Half a dozen, and armed to the teeth. They all stood frozen in place, them and Shadow. Crona began to panic, and she looked back and forth from Shadow and the soldiers. On of the soldiers, the one most in front, did the same. They weren't a match for Shadow; they'd back off. She was sure of it.

The lead soldier pulled his gun and aimed at her.

She gasped and looked to Shadow, who looked to her in turn.

The soldier pulled the trigger.

"Maria!"

* * *

**Okay, short chapter. Reasons why; one, I had to rush, two, I had one of those rare moments where an idea pops into your head and you absolutely have to put it down, and you end up rushing, and , three, I forgot what the date was.**

**Yeah, so, as far as I understand it, me having to redo the chapter order because of getting rid of the Dramatis Personae did in the Reviews thing (can't review the same chapter twice (bloody admin...)).**

**Anyway, if you have anything you absolutly wanted to say about the last chapter, feel free, but don't forget about this chapter.**


	6. Chapter Six

It was a Saturday. No classes, per se, just some sports and extracurricular studies or work for those who took it on. X23 had shrugged her regular training and exercise in favour of furthering her new drawing pastime. Besides, she could train tomorrow.

She walked into the first aid room, having found her third notebook. She had filled the other two after the first few days. Logan had had a mixed reaction to her new hobby. He suggested it out of vexation, he never thought she take him up on it.

She sat down in the same chair as every other time, though now the chair faced out the window, so she could draw a few more things. Looking back through her other two notebooks, she could see that her first sketches were utter crap. After two days, a classmate had noticed, and suggested looking through a 'dummy's guide' book for tips. She had thumped the blue-furred dunce and went to find the book. After that, her drawings had improved with each day, and she kept the book with her in case she needed to reference something. Now her drawings looked like what they were inspired from. They were nothing of a Picasso or Da Vinci level, but something at least recognisable as a drawing.

Roxas was still unconscious. He had come to a few times, talked for a bit with Scott or Jean, but was still too exhausted to go anywhere. Also, he had developed a cold, which, with his still recovering body, was taking quite a toll on him.

And he still infuriated her by just being there. Every time he had started to wake, she had called for Logan or someone else, and then disappeared before he got his bearings. And only when she was sure he was out of it again did she go back in. She was hesitant to speak to him, which she brushed off as a fear of being embarrassed by him again. But she still wanted to ask him some questions, particularly about what he had done to get himself back in here. Annoying, to say the least.

Roxas stirred and breathed deeply before suffering a coughing fit.

X23 stood from her seat and stood alert; that coughing fit was going to wake him.

She stood still as stone. She had fled the last few times. Not again. Her heart rate quickened as he moved his arms to cover his mouth and he lurched forward from the coughs. She was not going to let him ward her off; she going to take charge of this.

He fell back and groaned, then lay still. Too still. He knew she was here.

Was it too late to sneak out?

* * *

Not his best idea thus far. Not only did he leave his walker in his room, but he took the stairs, didn't put a jacket on, and ignored his body's cries of exhaustion and overexertion. By the he had woken up the first time, he had missed four days of school. Now he needed to catch up even more, and what little work he could do left him feeling tired from thinking. He'd never have thought that your brain could get tired.

Anyway, he was getting to be awake again now, and he should get back to his school work—

He coughed a little.

_Oh, not again..._

The cough quickly turned into a fit of harsh coughing and sputtering, leaving him breathless halfway through. These had been happening for a few days now, the cold he suffered developing over three days. He was over the worst of it now, his throat no longer sore and his nose clear, but the coughs were taking some time to die down.

It was over mercifully soon, though, much to his relief. He fell back with a _thud_ on the bed. That was unpleasant. He decided he would enjoy breathing for a moment. He focused on his breathing, the feeling of it going in, then going out. He felt his heart beat quicker, then slower, quicker, slower, with each breath. Good...he was relaxed now.

Relaxed enough to pick up who else was in the room.

"Hi." He greeted.

No response. She was still there, just silent. Was she angry? Everyone else seemed a little upset with what he did, so it was a fair guess. Better say what he was trying to say almost a week ago.

"Sorry I said that."

No response.

"And for going going out in the cold."

Again, no response.

He opened his eyes and looked over to her. His vision was a bit bleary from sleep, but he could make her out well enough. She was standing like she had when she had come to see him; arms folded and eyes staring.

She opened her mouth to say something, but the words seemed to die in her throat. Roxas called to mind what this was, having seen a similar thing...at least he thought he had. She seemed uncertain. As if she couldn't phrase the question right.

He let her take her time, though she didn't take much.

"Why did you do that?"

The question was said in a demanding tone. Roxas was taken aback. He knew what she meant; going outside in the cold, but he didn't think it had made her angry. Even if it did, why was she still angry? It was like, four days ago, not including today.

"Uh..." He began, but realised he didn't have an explanation. Why did he do that? Even he knew now it was a stupid thing to have done. It may have made sense when he did it, but the reasoning of the moment was gone.

"I..."

_...just wanted to say sorry, Kairi..._

His head hurt a moment. Who's voice was that?

..._But you could have caught a cold!_...

..._I'm fine_...

The pain intensified. It wasn't too bad, so he just winced. He noted with a hint of disappointment that X23 didn't show any sympathy.

The pain passed, and there was an awkward silence. She shifted her weight like last time. He started thinking for a way to change the subject.

"You could have waited for me to go back inside. Why did you follow me out there?"

"Kurt said I had to say sorry."

Her features let up for a moment. She looked away, scoffing at the mention of Kurt's name and muttering something unintelligible. There was another awkward silence as she looked off to the side and Roxas lay there thinking of something to say.

He tried, "Did I say anything in my sleep?", Referring to the things he was told he had said last time he was unconscious for so long.

She looked back at him, her face resuming its previous hard set. "What does 'Xion' mean?"

Xavier had asked this before. He had no idea on the meaning, other than it was a name instead of a word. Looks like the Professor hadn't told anyone. Well, not the students, at least. Maybe telling her what he told the Professor would ease the awkwardness.

"It's a name."

"Who's name?" She was posing her questions less than half a second after he gave an answer. What did she want from him?

"I don't know."

"What is a 'Keyblade'?"

That wasn't a name. He hadn't heard it till now, but he knew it instantly. What else had he said in his sleep this time?

"It's..." His brain stabbed at him. He clutched his head and groaned.

The world faded.

_ "...maybe it'll help you remember how to summon your own."_

_ "What are you gonna use?"_

_ "Well...I can use this."_

_ "Your mind's made up?_

_ "Why did the Keyblade choose me? I have to know."_

"—said, are you all right?" X23 was trying to get Roxas' hands off his head.

"What...?" He started coming back from...wherever. He was doubled over and he was grabbing onto his head hard. His head still hurt a lot, but he made an attempt to straighten up a little. He tentatively moved his torso upward. X23 was still trying to get his hands away from his head.

"What are you...?"

"Your fingers." She said.

He looked at his fingers. They had red on them.

"What?"

"You were gripping your head so hard you drew blood." Her voice was a mix of concern and deadpan. She sounded uncomfortable.

"It's alright. I'm fine." He said, and she stepped away. "It just hurts to remember."

"Just like him..." She whispered.

"Huh?"

"Logan." She explained.

"Oh." He remembered; Mister Logan once had the exact same problem. "Right."

There was another moment of silence, but Roxas quickly broke it.

"A Keyblade is a like a sword. I don't know anything else."

She looked at him with...he didn't know what. Interest? No, renewed interest.

"Are you sure." She pressed, though with obvious reluctance.

He thought a second. Not about the Keyblade, but about what else she might want to know.

"It's something that someone else could use as well. I think. And it can be summoned at will." He explained.

"Summoned?" Her tone turned sceptical. "What do you mean?"

"I mean..." He felt the first sting in his head and flinched. "No. I can't remember."

She looked a little disappointed, but she relented. He was grateful.

"Thanks." He said.

"You're welcome."

She turned to leave again. "Get well soon."

"Hey, X23." He called, stopping her. "Do you remember your past?"

She was silent a moment. "Yes." She said evenly.

He considered what to say next. Her back was still turned to him, so he could afford to look away in thought. He gazed around the room and saw a thermal blanket that Logan had put on him when he was brought back inside.

"Does Mister Logan remember all of his past?"

"Not all of it, no."

"Is he still trying to remember?" He wasn't sure if he was getting across what he wanted to know—what you're supposed to do when confronted with never knowing where you came from—but he hoped her answer would be enough.

"No."

"Why?"

There was a long moment of silence. The tension in her body eased and her shoulders and head lowered.

"I used to think that he didn't want to because of...what happened in those memories." She explained, half turning to face him. "But now..." She trailed off as if searching for the right words. "I guess...he doesn't want to because he doesn't need to. He knows how he got his amnesia and all that, but he also knows he's looking after the school now and..." She trailed off again, looking a little frustrated with herself this time. "And...he already knows what he has now. He doesn't want to remember because it doesn't matter."

Roxas regarded her, and she looked at him with what he had only seen from the Professor; meaning.

She turned away and walked out. "Bye."

She left and Roxas was alone. He thought about what she had said, about knowing what you had. Maybe he should try thinking of it like that; that it doesn't necessarily matter where he came from, but where he is.

He smiled. Yeah, maybe he didn't have to remember. Maybe he knew everything he needed to already.

He shuffled back in the bed so his back was up against the headrest. He leant over, opened the drawer on the bedside table, and pulled out his schoolwork. After grabbing his pen and pencil out of the same drawer, he closed it and got to work.

He noticed that there was a notebook in the chair next to the bed. After a bit of thought, he recognised it as one of the books that X23 had been using for...well, whatever. He was just glad she was keeping him company. And still watching him. It was amusing as ever.

* * *

**Okay, that's the last bit of that for a while. Next few chapters pick it up a bit. Concerning the last chapter, in hindsight I can see it may look like a bit of a tangent, but I would like to just clarify that its purpose was to make the next chapter after this one seem like less of a tangent itself (a tangent is where a story is going one way, but then goes another for no reason. See TV tropes for examples).**

**As for the Multi-Cross review (which I discussed with the guy who posted it, so don't bring it up with him), I am new to the fanfic community, so I don't know all the classifications and stuff, but all that aside, it technically isn't a multi cross, per se. Shadow and Crona, from StH and Soul Eater, have both had thier powers and backgrounds 'adjusted' to fit into the X-Men universe. They have the same names and personalities, with a tweak here and there to their backgrounds, but everything else is differant; there are no chaos emeralds, no spirit consumption, no Sonic, no Soul, no Commander Tower, no spin-dash, no hedgehogs, nothing from either of those shows. They don't exist, as far as this story is concerned. Also, Shadow is human (well, he's a mutant, but you know what I mean).**


	7. Chapter Seven

The X-Jet was set down in a more or less remote area in the Alps. Less, if one considered the gaping crater roughly fifteen kilometres northwest of their location. The situation was this; there was a group of three fugitive mutants on the run from the clandestine military splinter department G.U.N. What tipped of every other interested party was the means by which they got here and from where; a vessel, disguised as a meteor for whatever reason, and had been piloted from one of the moons of Jupiter.

Now both G.U.N and S.H.I.E.L.D were out here in force, with several confrontations between the two having occurred in the five days that the situation had gone on for. Fortunately, the two aforementioned factions were too occupied with each other to notice the four X-Men sneaking around.

"Remind me again why weren't staying in the _Jet_?" Jean asked as she held her numbed hands toward the dwindling fire.

"Cause the power signature could be detected by whoever is after these guys as well." Logan answered. The fact that the two factions had started searching this far out from the landing site was evident from the searchlights and helicopters around the area last night. Hence, they had to take precautions, such as camping under the wings of the _X-Jet_ and keeping the fire concealed under the main body.

"How far do you think they've gotten by now?" Scott spoke of the rogue mutants they were trying to find.

"On foot, both kids from the foot print, going through this weather..." It was hard to say. They had gotten into the field late, and only found one of the rouges through dumb luck. Corna, his—or her—name was. He was nearly catatonic, he was so scared, hiding in the nook of a tree. After they got him back to the _X-Jet_, they went back to back track his steps. They found another two tracks to follow, both going in the same direction, but they had needed to wait till this morning, as it was dark and Crona had gone into some sort of fit.

"Can't say for sure, but if I had to guess..."

There was a cry from inside the ship before he could finish. Jean rushed inside to comfort the young boy. Or girl. They couldn't tell just yet.

Logan sighed and sat down to enjoy the fire a little more before setting off. Scott and Storm were still finishing packing up their tents and bags, but managed conversation anyway.

"You think they know we're out here?" Scott tossed his rolled up sleeping bag toward the ramp, with the other supplies.

"Safe bet." Logan stood and walked out from under the _Jet_. "They're probably searching the area for us as well now. Or searching for the other two rogues double time. Either way, we need to move move fast."

"I meant the two rogues." Scott clarified. "They might have gone back and looked around for him," He said, gesturing up the _X-Jet's_ ramp. "They might have spotted our tracks."

"_Might_ _have_." Logan replied. "They also might have kept going. Doesn't make a difference either way; we still need to convince them to come back to the school with us. Though if they're like Crona...it'll be difficult."

Storm placed her packed up tent and bag with the supplies and gestured up the ramp. "Speaking of Crona; will she be alright on her own?"

"Ask Jean when she comes back down." Logan answered before Jean came down the ramp, an exasperated look on her face. "Speak of the devil..."

"And he shall appear." Jean finished.

"How is he?" Asked Scott.

"He's out again now. I used telepathy to get him to calm down, but even that was a chore; I think he's got some kind of AI implanted in her somewhere."

"Uh...inside _him_." Scott corrected.

"Him, her...I don't know." She said with a shrug.

"You reckon he's alright by himself?" Logan asked getting to the point.

"I'm not sure." She looked back up the ramp. "He keeps screaming at things that aren't there. And he's put a few marks in the _Jet's_ interior with his mutation."

"Which is?" Storm inquired.

"He has spikes bursting through his skin when his episodes start. It's put a few scratches here and there, but its minimal. It could be worse next time though." She paused in thought.

Logan looked into the forest. Them standing around here wasn't getting the other two out of danger.

"You should stay in case he wakes up" Scott stated before Logan. "We'll get out there and find the other two."

Jean nodded after a moment, and headed up the ramp. She stopped and ducked her head back out. "Be careful." She said to Scott.

Scott smiled and nodded, and she went inside the _Jet_. After grabbing some supplies and tools, they set off, double checking the camouflage on their ride home before piercing the treeline.

The landing site was out of sight soon enough, putting their sense of direction on their compasses and tracking skills. They walked on for a number of minutes before coming across the first set of tracks.

* * *

He poked the fire he had set up against the tree. It was small, but enough for her. He could take the cold, or anything for that matter. It's what he was trained for. Designed for. He stood up and stood out of the way of the heat, standing behind and to the side of his huddled friend, Maria.

"Shadow? Is it time to go?"

"Not yet." He lied. They should have been out of where they were an hour and a half ago, but she still looked tired. She had exhausted herself with worry these last few days, the trauma of taking a bullet to her shoulder being the first in a conga line of shocks and mental strains. When it had happened, she had gone into shock and lost consciousness. It was a flesh wound, the bullet barely making contact with her thin, frail body, but endurance was not her forte.

"Are we going to look for Crona?"

"No."

"But..."

"No, Maria. Crona is beyond our help." He said for the fourth time. The other three times were two times yesterday, and one the day before that, which was when they lost Crona. The little hermaphrodite had gotten separated in a panic during the first attempt by G.U.N to seize them. He, or she, had run off to somewhere, and was now certainly in the custody of G.U.N again. Or S.H.I.E.L.D, perhaps, but they had only been on the scene for the last two and a half hours by his estimate. Maria had panicked herself when they first noticed, but they couldn't go back. Not for any reason.

He heard Maria yawn behind him. He walked over to and picked up the survival pack they had brought along from the pod.

"Now it's time to go." He said as he approached her.

She shrugged off the blanket she was wearing, allowing Shadow to put it back in the bag. She stood beside him, leaning her head onto the side of his arm. He allowed her to stay there a moment, savouring the relaxing feeling of her skin against his, before easing her off with his hand and motioning toward their next direction.

They started down it, Shadow taking point, Maria following closely. Shadow soon started cursing the current weather, as the lack of leaves on branches instead of the ground was a dangerous complication. It hadn't been a factor the other day, as they had crashed to earth in the mid afternoon, but now the sun was rising, and they were clearly visible from the air, and they had no white clothing or camouflage.

Maria flinched and hugged onto Shadow's arm at the howl of a wolf in the distance. They stopped as Shadow looked down to her, smiling at the dependent reaction she had. So adorable. He silently reaffirmed his vow to protect her, something he did whenever she did something precious.

"They're nowhere near us. They won't be a problem."

They continued on despite another howl from a little closer, and the sound of gunfire in the distance. Maria didn't seem concerned this time, Shadow having assured her of the two distinct sounds a moment ago and yesterday, but Shadow himself was plenty worried; the G.U.N and S.H.I.E.L.D forces were duking it out already, and had been the other day as well. That meant there were probably a number of bodies out there to attract those wolves over, or some other creatures looking to store up some more fat for the coming winter. Then there was the future problem of which side won. If G.U.N won, they would either be found again, or killed. On the other hand, if they lost to their rivals out there, they might resort to levelling the entire forest to kill their fugitives.

Shadow halted Maria, looking around through the leafless forest.

"Shadow?" Maria didn't know what he was looking around for, but she could see in his face that he was scared. Shadow knew she knew as well. She was the only one who could ever see fear in him.

"Someone's coming." He ushered her to a nearby pile of branches and leaves to hide, while he took to the trees.

He waited up there, hidden rather well despite the lack of foliage. Maria was doing her best to stay still, though she dared a few glances out of her hiding spot, damn her curiosity. Maybe he should have said specifically that it was one of the two agencies after them. Nah, she could tell when he was lying, especially when he was scared. Truth was, he didn't know who was coming, just that there was three, medium build on all of them, light armor, if any. Nothing fit that description, but since they were clearly trying to keep it down between themselves, they were aware of the situation.

He held his breath as they came into view.

* * *

Logan had gone silent. Never a good thing. They approached a set of trees, which, really, were indiscernible from every other set, and stopped. Storm and Scott looked back and forth from each other as Logan looked around. He made the sign for 'up high', and 'act normal'. They followed as instructed, and proceeded forward. They stopped at the signs left by whoever was above them at the moment, acting like they were trying to determine where they had gone, but waiting on Logan to make a move. Not that they were inexperienced in this, but Logan was one to be obeyed when in the thick of it.

"You can stop pretending." Came a voice from above. "I know you know."

They looked up to see a young man, now more than eighteen or nineteen, looking down at them from a fork in the trees. He was lean, muscular, Caucasian in appearance with black and red hair, and eyes to match.

"I'm Ororo—" Ororo began, but was quickly cut off.

"I know who you are." He said.

"That why you showed yourself?" Logan asked.

"Yes." He dropped down to show he understood they meant no harm. "But I'd rather you left; I don't need your assistance. Thanks for the offer, anyway."

"What about your friend?" Logan said nodding to the small pile of wood and leaves to the side of the trees surrounding them.

"She's with me."

"Can we ask—" Scott tried.

"She's with me." He said a little slower, with more emphasis on the last word.

"You thinking of outrunning S.H.I.E.L.D, kid?" Logan folded his arms. "Cause that's not gonna be the end of it."

"I know about the Brotherhood, old man, and I'm not just outrunning S.H.I.E.L.D. I've got G.U.N on my trail as well." Before Logan could say anything, he added, "And we're not going anywhere near your school. You think it's a safe haven, but you're just lighting a beacon in there."

Logan bit back a quip at the phrase 'old man', and instead addressed the last point. "Fair enough, but nothing's stopping you from leaving when you get there. That's our deal." He nodded in the general direction of the fighting G.U.N and S.H.I.E.L.D forces. "Think you'll get the same from them?"

There was a rustle from the foliage where the other one was hiding, and a girl popped her head out from hiding.

"Shadow, maybe we—"

"Be quiet, Maria." He said sternly. She stood out from hiding, but complied with the command.

There was a long moment of quiet, punctuated by the sound of aircraft sweeping the area. Logan glanced at the girl and then back at the boy. Shadow, as he was apparently called, was definitely thinking his options over. Good. That meant he was open to reason, and not paranoid. Maria was looking torn; she was afraid of them, and going from the bloody stain on her clothes and the bandage on her shoulder she had been through a rough few days. She seemed to be concerned about something else, though. Afraid for someone.

"There's one more out there." Shadow said. "He's this tall, pink hair, slightly feminine in appearance."

"Crona, we know." Storm said.

"Is he alright?" Maria ran toward them, stopping when Shadow stretched out his arm toward her with an open palm.

"He's with us as well." He lowered his arm and looked at Logan. "We go with you, you drop us off somewhere, you don't come looking for us again. Clear."

"Is Crona okay?" Maria asked again. Storm gave a nod, while Scott gave a fifty-fifty gesture.

"Shadow, they could help her."

"We can't stay with—"

"If they can help Crona, we have to try."

"If we stay in that scho—"

"We're going with them." Maria said with finality. "We're getting Crona the help he needs."

Shadow looked angered for a moment at her defiance, but relented. "You're too caring." He muttered.

"This way." Logan said before leading the way back on their trail. Scott and Storm fell in, and Maria followed suit. Shadow followed last, falling in step behind Maria.

Ororo looked over her shoulder at the two from time to time while walked over or around the occasional obstacle. Obviously, Shadow was only going to go along with this for so long, and, going from his personality, if he even suspected an ulterior motive from them, he'd take Maria and split. Jean would be able to juggle the situation a little better, given her fair knowledge of psychology.

"How is Crona's condition?" Shadow asked.

"Stable, I guess." Logan replied.

"We were hoping you could let us in on what's causing the fits he's been having." Ororo said.

"It's the Ragnarok."

"Ragnarok?"

"An AI, part of the Weapon-Y program."

Logan stopped. "Weapon-Y?" He asked incredulously.

"G.U.N found out about the Weapon-X program, wanted one of their own. Weapon-Y."

"Is that what you were running from?" Scott asked. Logan shot him a look, and Ororo held up a hand, signalling for him to stop. Luckily, Shadow simply ignored the question.

They continued in silence till they reached the _Jet_, Maria rushing on board when she heard Crona's cries. Shadow followed them in and immediately took a seat at the back. Maria meanwhile fretted over Crona in an effort to calm him along with Jean and Logan. Scott and Ororo, with not much help to lend the three, took the pilot and co-pilot seats.

After a few minutes, Crona was still again. Maria helped secure her to a bed without setting her off, and then the three of them took a seat each as well.

"How fast can this thing go?" Shadow asked.

"Why, you impressed?" Scott asked with a cocky smile.

Shadow glared at him and explained his question. "S.H.I.E.L.D and G.U.N no doubt know you're somewhere in the area. They will be looking around for you, and will doubtless notice you taking off from the area. You arrived in the area in the first place for obviously the same reason as them. They will now see you _leaving_. What does this tell them?"

Scott started up the systems and fired the engines. "'Better luck next time', for one thing." He threw the throttle forward and pinned everyone in their seats with sudden G-force. "And 'Catch me if you can' another."

* * *

**Okay, few notes; the spikes coming out of Crona during his/her (I'm going to go with 'him', mostly) episodes are like the rejection reaction (bloody needles poking out left right and centre). Shadow is human! Weapon-Y is nothing special in itself, just an explanation for Shadow's existence. Crona will be a little OoC and near comatose due to mental instability (G.U.N did a number on her (Also, having her play a part in the story right now would over crowd the scene. She's a side note until further notice).**

**As for Roxas putting his past behind him; yeah...not going to work. It's going to pop up again, no matter what. He will have to face it, voluntary or not. But not yet; gotta take care of other stuff.**


	8. Chapter Eight

The _X-Jet's _engines screamed as Scott banked hard right, pulling back on the throttle as two missiles overshot them, detonating a moment after. Scott pushed the throttle forward again and gritted his teeth under the G-forces of sudden acceleration.

Both G.U.N and S.H.I.E.L.D had come after them with haste, like Shadow had warned. G.U.N was exceeding expectations, however, throwing everything bar the kitchen sink, as the hyperbole went. Whatever this 'Weapon-Y' thing was, it had these guys in a panic.

"There's two more drones on our tail." Ororo had to shout to be heard. "The S.H.I.E.L.D fighter jets are pulling up behind them."

"They're lining up for a slipstream manoeuvre!" Shadow shouted from his seat in the back of the _Jet_. "You need to take out those drones before they—"

"Wait!" Jean said from the co-pilots seat. "They're..." She trailed off and pointed to the radar. "Scott, what are they doing?"

Scott redirected his attention for a moment to the radar. The blips indicating the drones flickered and then were gone. They had been shot down by the fighters.

"S.H.I.L.E.D is shooting down G.U.N's drones." Scott explained with a hint of annoyance. It was Fury's handiwork, no doubt. Professor Xavier had told enough about the Avenger's sponsor to know when he was present.

"Why would they do that?" Asked Shadow, obviously bewildered by the seemingly unintelligent move.

"Does that mean we're safe now?" Maria asked with a strained voice. "And would you mind not being so rough?"

"Sorry." Scott apologised. "It's Fury. He's the director of S.H.I.E.L.D. He's probably helping us."

"And why would the director of S.H.I.E.L.D help you?" Shadow's tone was accusatory.

"To earn himself a favour." Logan explained through clenched teeth. "He does that." He turned to Shadow and added, "All it means is he'll be knocking on our door for a while once we get you there."

"Better lose them anyway." Scott sent the _Jet_ into a sudden dive as they approached some clouds. "We'll try to lose these guys in the clouds. Hold on!"

The cloud mass itself was quite dense and threatening a thunderstorm, which, the danger of lightning strikes aside, was ideal.

"Storm!" Scott commanded, using Ororo's codename. "Do your thing!"

Ororo tensed and tilted her head to one side. The lightning escalated to an unnatural level behind them, throwing the fighters into a panic. They broke off, retreating out of the clouds. G.U.N, on the other hand, wasn't so easily dissuaded; a fresh wave of drones poured in, with a manned aerial vehicle of some sort, a gunship by the looks of it.

"Keep it up." Scott said. Despite the enemy re-enforcements, they had some breathing room. Scott zoomed out the radar and looked at the surrounding few miles of airspace. S.H.I.E.L.D looked to be mopping up back at ground zero, and G.U.N was attempting a fighting retreat with whatever they weren't sending after them. Well, thats what he hoped this was what all the chaotic moving dots meant, anyway.

"Jean, pull up the sat nav. Look for somewhere to go once we get out of the clouds."

"Did you take any damage?" Shadow asked.

"No, just a key scratch on the paint." Scott replied. "How is everyone back there?"

"Maria is fine." Shadow looked to Logan. "Weapon-X is nauseous."

"Watch it, bub."

Scott stole a glance in Maria's direction."And Crona?"

"She's fine." Maria said after a moment. "She gets air sick, too, though."

"I'm not...!"

"There's another cloud mass a few kilometres ahead, but is a lot smaller." Jean said, cutting off Logan's protest.

"I could bring it down, make a line of fog." Ororo suggested.

"No good, fog won't cover against radar and infrared." Scott dismissed.

"If Director Fury is trying to earn himself points as you say, then we could use him to ward off G.U.N for a while." Shadow said. "Do you think you could convince him?"

"Well, he's not on speed dial, but we can try." Scott readjusted his grip as the drones closed in through the lightning strikes and opened fire with their guns. "We'd need to lose these guys first." He turned to Ororo, who was starting to look worn. "Do you feel up to causing a full blown storm, or...?"

"I can try." Ororo said through her concentration.

"Okay. Wait for my mark." He looked back, double checking everyone was still secure before putting the Jet into a sudden dive. "Hold on!"

Maria made a squeak of a scream as the G-forces pushed her and everyone else back into their seats. Cloud was replaced with ocean as they broke through the storm and flew a dozen meters above sea level. The drones pursued, but the gunship stayed in the sky.

"Now!"

The change came slowly, but the sea and sky did as they were told, turning into a tempest of biblical proportions. Lightning strikes arrayed as walls, waves the size of three story buildings, winds never seen outside of a tornado...if those drones could take this, G.U.N deserved to catch them. Scott halved his speed, ducking around and over the waves as the drones came after them. The drones were doing well, keeping pace with the _Jet_ and staying along the same course instead of going high and strafing. That suggested either an advanced AI or remote piloting.

Scott banked hard, nearly tilting the _Jet_ on a ninety degree angle to avoid an oncoming wave. He punched the throttle forward before the drones could get off a shot. The drones themselves followed through with the turn, though a little easier.

"Does this thing have any weapons?" Shadow asked a little indignantly.

"It'd draw too much attention." Scott snapped as he brought them up and over a wave, and ducked around another one behind it, hoping to take out some of the drones with the unseen obstacle. It worked, but only took one of them down. There was the disconcerting sound of led piercing metal as the drones shot rounds through the waves.

"They're certainly holding back." Jean observed. "They haven't fired a single missile yet."

"I'm trying..." Scott gritted his teeth as he pulled another manoeuvrer, taking another drone. "To fly this thing, Jean."

"She's right," Shadow added. "They've probably had an opportunity or two to nail you by now. What else is out there?"

"Some sort of gunship or something."

"What's it doing?"

"Jean?"

Jean looked at the radar. "It's in the clouds directly above us, a few hundred feet."

Shadow was silent for a moment. "It's a drop ship. It's carrying mutates."

"Mutates?"

"Brainwashed mutants. Move us out from under it."

Scott followed the instruction, but soon forfeited that it was pointless. "I can't. We'd need to go faster to get away, and it I fly too straight, we'll be shredded."

As if to emphasise this, a streak of gunfire shot across the _Jet's_ dorsal, setting off an alarm with a lucky hit.

"Have they hit anything?" Scott said as he tried harder to lose the drones.

"We've got a red light on the port engine!" Jean reported.

"Dammit!" Scott cursed.

"Scott..." Ororo sounded exausted.

"What is it?"

"There's someone else...another mutant."

"Is someone fighting your control over the storm?" Jean asked.

"Yes." Ororo gasped. "There's too many...!"

A wave reared up in front of them.

"Oh shit!" Scott pulled back hard on the yoke, bringing them up and over the wall of water. The drones shot off one more round before falling back.

"We need to get out of here _now_!" Shadow shouted.

"Unless you want to get out and push, shut up!" Scott's shout was punctuated by three thuds on the top of the _Jet_.

"Fly higher." Shadow instructed as he unbuckled from his seat. "Keep us as steady as you can."

"There's lightning up higher!" Scott protested.

"What are you doing?" Jean demanded.

"What is that on the roof?" Logan asked, catching on to the situation. Three blades poked through the hull in answer.

"You remember how I said G.U.N wanted a Weapon-X of their own?" Shadow produced an inch long adamantium claw from each knuckle and fingertip.

"Yes." Logan answered, ignoring the newly displayed weapons and drawing out his own.

Shadow pointed to the blades that were carving a hole out of the hull. "Mass production."

The roof of the _Jet_ popped off with a rush of decompressed air and pouring rain. Three masked individuals, each covered with knives, two guns, a jetpack, sword, and utility belt dropped in and attacked. Logan dodged a swipe at his neck and backed up toward the seats while Shadow drew the other two further down the back. The assassin came on, quickly swiping at Logan's arms, trying to draw him into leaving himself open to a takedown.

Logan found him mind reacting much too slowly and his body slower. He'd gotten rusty, and nwo it was threatening to cost him the lives of his friends. He decided to try using brute strength if his reflexes were subpar. He charged forward when the assassin tried another bind, grabbing for the straps of his jetpack and trying to wrestle him to the floor. The assassin evaded this with ease, pinning Logan to the floor instead, gaining leverage over his wrist and twisting his arm over his shoulder. Logan's mind caught up in time to grab the assassins wrist before he could grab what was doubtless going to be a taser. He struggled to get his other arm free, but his wrist was at the mercy of his opponent.

The assassin kneed his sides, losing patience with the war of strengths. Logan gasped for air, the strikes having winded him and weakening his resistance against the arm holding the taser.

"Jean, help him!" Came Scott's voice. A moment later, the assassin was lifted into the air. It took a moment, but the assassin realised what was happening and went for one of the holstered guns on his belt. Logan thrust his arms up and impaled the masked man, earning a cry of pain from him. The assassin fought on, pulling the trigger and sending two bullets through the front window. The _Jet_ pitched, and Logan slid between Shadow's seat and Maria.

"Dammit, get rid of that gun!" Scott shouted as he righted the _Jet_. Logan stood and jumped at the still airborne assassin, going for the arms this time. The assassin drew a knife and blocked the swipe firing two more shots at Jean that she caught. Logan grabbed the assassins wrist and elbow before bringing his knee up to break the forearm. The assassin screamed in pain and emptied the rest of his clip into Logan, who took it with only a facial flinch and punched the assassin out.

"I am so _sick_ of being shot!"

"Ditto." Shadow kicked one of the assassins fighting him toward them. "Grey, show him out please."

Jean grabbed the assassin as Logan sliced his two guns in half off his belt before throwing him up and out through the hole he and his accomplices had cut. Three seconds and a broken neck later, the last assassin was down.

The _Jet_ rocked as a lightning strike passed in their path. "Strap in!" Scott called. "Those drones are coming back."

Logan and Shadow did as instructed while Jean dumped the dead assassin out as well. The last they might use as a treat to S.H.I.E.L.D if Fury got testy.

"Storm, please tell me you're feeling better." Scott's voice became fearful at the sight of several tornados forming ahead.

"Go as fast as you can, I'll handle the rest." She dipped her head forward, breathing deeply. Scott put the throttle forward, a warning light sounding as they approached maximum velocity.

"The port engine's nearly cooked!" Jean yelled.

"She can take it!" The _Jet's_ engines sounded a disagreement with an increasing whine. Scott gritted his teeth. "Come on, hold together..."

The tornados faltered, a gap forming to the left of centre in the growing wall. "There...hurry...!"

Scott's faith was rewarded, the engines pulling through for one last feat and carrying them through the breach before it closed. The drones were tossed like twigs in the super storm.

"Lost 'em!" Scott gasped. "We lost them!"

"What about the carrier?"

"It's pulling back, Logan, don't worry." Scott fell back in his chair. "We're in the clear."

There was no time to celebrate, though; the port engine was on a dying limp.

"We need to land, soon." Jean looked at the sat nav and searched for a place to land. "We won't make the school like this."

"If we land, S.H.I.E.L.D will catch up." Logan said, the statement meant for Shadow. "We'll have to cut a deal, maybe try to pass a white lie or two to get them to let us go."

"I understand." Shadow said curtly. "I'm not paranoid."

"We could put down here." Jean pulled Scott away from conversation to help decide on a landing zone while everyone else recuperated.

"You alright, Storm?" Logan knelt beside his friend, who was pressing a hand to her forehead.

"I'll be fine, Logan." She replied in a quiet, weary voice. "I'm just a little exhausted." She brought her face up from her palm to look around the cabin with bloodshot eyes. "How are our passengers?"

Logan looked to the behind and to the left, at where Crona was strapped down. He, or she, was breathing heavily, with Maria patting her hand. Maria herself looked very shaken, her hands trembling and lip quivering. Shadow stood to the side, arms crossed and looking down at Maria with what looked close to sympathy.

"They're holding on." Logan said. "They'll take care of each other."

"Good..." Her face flushed pale and she swooned, needing Logan to catch her.

"Easy." He leaned her forward to rest her elbows on her knees. "I'll get you some water." He stood and went to the back of the _Jet_, scowling at the gaping hole as he passed it. He grabbed a cask of Gatorade and a pillow. He paused and took two blankets before going back to the front. He put the two blankets on Shadow's chair, gaining his attention so Logan could nod toward Maria. Shadow took the offer and placed one blanket over Maria and the other on Crona, to help them with the shock they were undergoing.

Logan handed Ororo the cask and placed the pillow on her lap. "The world won't go on like this much longer." He kept his voice down, ignoring that Shadow was probably listening in. "Kids being experimented on, shot at, hunted...the anti-mutant stuff is coming to a head."

"I know." Ororo said, sipping the flavoured sport drink. "I know. No one wants to hear it, but...Magneto is right; the humans and mutants are headed to a war."

"Yeah, and it's about the only thing he is right about." Logan's voice oozed disgust. "Mutants aren't gonna have much of a chance of surviving compared to everyone else, not with him filling their heads with his crap. His argument says that human became the superior species because they were stronger. That's bull, nothing but. Humans come out on top cause they were smater. Not by default, by effort. They _thought_ about how to survive, to get out of the hopeless situations the other species got killed by.

"Magneto's got mutant-kind high on arrogance. They'll look down, sneering, right up until bastards like G.U.N and Hydra drop a rock on their heads."

He looked at the hole in the roof. "And then it'll be too late to look up."

Ororo placed a hand on Logan's shoulder. "Charles won't let it come to that."

"He can only do so much." Logan muttered.

"That's why he needs people like you."

Logan looked his friend in the eye. A moment passed, and he smiled. He smiled a smile that spoke camaraderie and hope. A smile that Ororo was all too happy to return.

"Okay, we found somewhere;" Scott called to everyone. "Marsh land, few trees here and there. It's a little exposed, but S.H.I.E.L.D should cover for that."

Scott and Logan looked to Shadow, who gave a nod.

"Right, Ororo and Maria, sit back. Logan, Shadow," He turned to look at the two men. "Start unpacking the tools."

* * *

**:sigh: Writers block man. And at one of the most awesome parts of the story so far. Good thing I'm several chapters ahead of schedual, huh?**

**Anyway, here's some action for you. I'd really appreciate feedback on how I write fight scenes, as I'm still working on getting that stuff right in general.**

**Side notes:**

**A comission I requested on DeviantArt is done. And it looks awesome. It's for another story I have in the works that's gone on hiatus for the moment (working some stuff into the story (may need to rewrite a chapter or two)). Comments on it are dissabled, unfortunately, so just have a look at it. The name is 'New Heart', by Dys-Crux.**

**Also, I came across a Fanfic that I read a few years ago that went on hiatus due to needing some work (according to the author). It's quite good, and I'd recommend it to anyone who is a fan of Star Wars. And Kingdom Hearts. (yep, it's a crossover, folks.) 'The Guardian's of Life: the Bringer of Death', by Manco. Read your eyes out.**


	9. Chapter Nine

Repairing the _X-Jet_ was a chore and a half; the damage left from gun fire and the obnoxious hole in the hull notwithstanding, the damage from the chase was extensive. The starboard engine had taken its fair share in the fight, and the thrusters and manoeuvring flaps needed to be realigned to prevent them from capsizing mid air. A slight exaggeration on Scott's part, but the meaning was clear; they weren't going anywhere for a while.

S.H.I.E.L.D liked this, to a degree.

"I'd have preferred they tried to capture me." Shadow muttered as he soldered a circuit board.

"Don't like being surrounded?" Scott asked from overhead on the port wing.

"Being observed." The black and red haired super-soldier clarified. "Maria and I caused all this to get away from that. Well, from being abused, really, but you get my meaning;" He glared up at the few dozen parked assault helicopters lying several hundred metres away. "I hate being watched."

"Then stop complaining and keep working." Logan said as he cut some frayed wires. "In my experience, whiners don't get much work done."

Shadow narrowed his eyes at the older man but did as instructed. His frustration was justified, though. S.H.I.E.L.D was being, for lack of a better word, annoying, giving them the recurring line of 'please wait for Director Fury' when they asked for someone to talk to, or asked how long they were going to be kept there once they had the _Jet_ fixed.

"On the plus side, Maria doesn't mind hunting too much." Scott put in. "So we'll be eating soon enough."

"_I _go with her next time." Shadow said.

"Ororo knows what she's doing, and Jean isn't incompetent either."

"The wildlife isn't my concern." Shadow glared at the S.H.I.E.L.D forces again.

"Kidnapping isn't S.H.I.E.L.D's Modus Operand." Logan offered.

"They've stooped to it before." Scott and Shadow both stated.

"Exception." Came a voice from a few meters away. "Not the rule."

The three males looked away from their work and each other to see a tall African American man, standing with his hands on his hips, head tilted slightly to the side and dressed in a leather jacket.

With an eye patch on the left side of his face.

"Director Fury." Logan greeted, standing and signalling for Cyclops to relax.

"Wolverine, Cyclops." The superspy greeted in return. "And Shadow, right?"

Shadow stood, but said nothing.

"He's not very talkative." Scott explained.

"Really?" Fury asked sarcastically. "Then allow me to continue;"

Shadow crossed his arms and prepared for a round of negotiation.

"You've pissed off G.U.N. You know it. You don't know what else you've done, though."

Shadow shrugged a hand. "Enlighten me."

"You've forced them to show their hand."

Shadow's face wavered. 'Forced them to show their hand'? Had he inadvertently caused them enough trouble to get them to let Maria and himself go? "What do you mean?"

"Mutates, aerial and space vehicles, tactics and strategies...you forced them to give us a sneak peak; we're reverse engineering and analysing everything we've seen and taken."

"They're probably doing the same."

"True." Fury agreed with a nod. "But those weren't our best resources out there. And we don't know if they were using their best. Which is why I need to ask you, in the interests of bringing G.U.N down, to help us go over all the data we've observed to help determine if we've seen their Ace."

"Afraid you might've just been tossed a two instead?" Shadow asked, using the Director's analogy.

"Something like that." The Director put his hands forward placatingly. "Now, I don't like the idea of nerds and sickos spying on me from space, which G.U.N probably is, and you don't like the idea of sitting in a room with any of us..."

Shadow snorted. "Understatement."

"...But we need someone from the inside to tell us what's what and how it all works."

Shadow regarded Fury while he thought. "What if I don't know anything about G.U.N's toys?"

"I'd say you're lying."

"What if I refused?"

Fury shrugged. "Then I'd say 'screw you' and figure out G.U.N's crap myself."

Shadow chuckled. Wait, he what?

"Well?" Fury resumed his hands on hips stance. "Are you gonna help or do I get to give you the finger?"

The X-Men looked back and forth between the two and each other. This was all...out of character. Did Director Fury expect this sort of reverse psychology to work? Was it actually working on Shadow?

"I'll think about it." Shadow said with nod. "Next question; Maria and I. Our freedom."

"Are you aware of the deal we have for the Hulk and X23?" Fury asked.

"Vaguely." Shadow replied. He knew that S.H.I.E.L.D was observing them closely, but nothing beyond that.

"Well, here's the gist: you stay on our radar, you avoid trouble, you tuck your shirt in and behave yourself. In return, we stay the hell away from you, and do our best to make everyone else do the same."

"How far within your radar?"

"Let's put it this way; last time we approached Doctor Banner, he was living the third world country life."

"Pretty lenient." Logan remarked.

"You got a better idea?"

Logan shrugged. "I was just saying."

"I'll think about that too." Shadow said, returning to the circuit board he was working on. "I'll have an answer by tomorrow."

Fury nodded and walked away. He glanced behind once or twice as he left, but otherwise didn't look back. Shadow finished the circuit board and took it inside to install it, leaving Scott and Logan outside.

"Can he hear us out here?" Scott asked.

"Safe bet." Logan replied. "Got something to say?"

"Just that Shadow seemed awfully...compliant just then." Scott searched for the words for a moment. "...Like...he doesn't seem like the guy to accept a deal."

"He isn't." Logan confirmed.

"Then why did he...?"

"Dunno." Logan shrugged. "Maybe he wants to talk it over with Maria or something."

Scott shrugged and went back to work. "Hey, speaking of Maria; where are they?" He stuck a thumb over his shoulder. "They've been gone a while now."

"It's close to winter." Logan explained, looking in the general direction that they had gone in. "Game's scarce."

* * *

"Miss Grey!" Maria whispered coarsely. "Over there!"

"I see."

They were stalking rabbit tracks, looking for another sort of meat to add to the meal they were going to have tonight. Maria was the one who suggested they hunt for food instead of grin and bear the rations on the _Jet_. She hadn't told Shadow this, but she wanted to talk with Jean and Ororo alone, and had asked they not tell Scott and Logan.

"Is it the rabbit we've been tracking?" Ororo asked in a whisper.

"It looks like a den."

"Good." Jean pressed two fingers to her left temple and stretched out a hand. "I can feel two rabbits in there, both adults."

"How do you...?" Maria asked, slightly baffled.

"It's...difficult to explain." Jean passed on giving an explanation. 'Feeling' through telekinesis was a difficult thing to explain.

"Shall we?" Ororo pulled out a knife.

"We shall." Jean pulled the rabbits out and brought them over to them, and Ororo set to work ending them. Maria flinched and looked away, but otherwise made no complaint of the scene.

"You don't like seeing animals suffer, do you?" Ororo observed as she waited for the now headless rodents to bleed out in mid air.

"I don't mind, but..." She paused and revised her words. "I know we have to eat something, and I don't mind preparing meat, but...no. I don't like to see anything suffer."

"Is that why you escaped G.U.N?" Jean asked sympathetically.

Maria was silent a moment. "Not really." She whispered.

"Maria..." Ororo tried, but decided against it. Instead, she said, "Why don't you tell us what's on your mind?"

Maria breathed in and sighed. "Shadow." She said.

"What about him?" Jean asked.

"He's..." She trailed off, as if she was struggling to endure the words she wanted to say. "...violent."

"Well..." Jean didn't want to point out the obvious, but... "Really..."

"No, no!" She waved her hands in front of her. "He's not unstable. He's really very gentle. Just...protective." Her features turned sad. "He's very afraid for me."

"Oh..." Jean caught her meaning. Shadow had displayed an aggressive protection of her. Not possessive, but slightly paranoid. Fair enough, considering recent events, but still; bad combination when powers were added.

"Is there anything we can do."

Maria chuckled sweetly. "Well, yes and no. Shadow's very closed in, but I can reason with him..."

"Like you did before coming with us to the _X-Jet_?" Jean asked with a smirk.

Maria blushed. "I can be...a little...bossy...sometimes."

Jean and Ororo chuckled politely before Maria continued.

"Well, I can get through to him." She looked at Jean and Ororo in turn. "I know you can keep us safe. And your teacher...the man in the wheelchair..."

"Professor Xavier?" Jean offered.

"Yes, him. He's taught you two." She pointed back to the general direction of the _Jet_. "And Scott, and Logan. And Shadow says there are a lot of other people there at your school as well. People who've been through a lot of bad things."

"Like Shadow?" Ororo asked.

"Well...sort of. Shadow and I have..." She trailed off, he face going blank a moment. "...suffered..." She shook her head and looked at the two again. "But Shadow has a good heart." She held her head a little higher, and said, "Professor Xavier and you could help him to show it. He's capable of so much good. He just needs to prove it to himself."

Jean and Ororo looked in wonder at the little girl in front of them. From what she had said, she had been through a lot. And yet, she had such faith in her friend.

"You're an amazing young lady." Ororo said with depth.

Maria blushed and shifted in place. "It's not really...um...thank you."

There was a pleasant silence, before Jean noticed the rabbits had stopped bleeding. "We should get back."

Maria and Ororo nodded and stood, Jean following suit. They tied the rabbits on a stick held between Jean and Ororo and headed off.

* * *

"You took your sweet time."

"Good to see you too, Scott."

Jean and Scott's banter made for a pleasant break of silence in the stony cold atmosphere between the three men. Shadow was standing with his arms folded off to the side of Scott and Logan, who were sitting in front of a fire. Shadow half turned and spotted Maria.

"Hello Maria."

Maria blinked. "Is something wrong."

Shadow looked away again. Maria looked from Shadow to Scott, who shifted with irritation, an action that Jean noticed.

"What's up?"

"Fury popped by." He answered.

"What did he want?" Jean's voice went cold and fearful. "What did he say?"

"He wants my help." Shadow explained.

"He wants you to..." Maria began, before Shadow cut her off.

"No. It's paperwork stuff. Identifying some of G.U.N's wreckage from the other day, that's all."

"And what else?" Maria wasn't fooled by the obvious half story.

Shadow paused a moment. "He..."

"He offered to let you two go." Logan blurted.

Shadow wheeled around and glared at the older man, and Maria looked back and forth between the two.

"Did he?" She asked excitedly. "He's letting us go? Just like that?"

"No." Shadow said. "He said he'd stay away so long as we stay out of trouble and in his sights." He sneered and muttered, "Funny talk from a guy with only one eye."

"'Stay in his sights'? What does he mean?"

"I'm not entirely sure, but..."

"He means," Logan explained. "That you can't try too hard to ditch any tails you get. You have to..."

"Rely on them for protection?" Shadow interrupted. "No thank you."

"It's that or be on the run..."

"Being on the run is what me and Maria..."

"...you can't outrun the entire..."

"...how would you know..."

"Enough!" Maria's shout pierced the bickering. Logan and Shadow stopped and both looked at Maria. "Stop it, both of you!" She continued. "Shadow, you're being unreasonable."

"S.H.I.E.L.D isn't just going to..."

"Shadow!" Maria stomped her foot.

"That stopped working when you were six." Shadow retorted.

Maria continued undeterred. "We can't stay ahead of everyone on our own, and you know it."

Shadowed opened his mouth to reply, but bit his lip instead.

"No matter where we go, well be hiding. I don't want to be sheltered in a scary old house or an alley. Their school is safe; we'll have S.H.I.E.L.D and G.U.N going at each other too much to bother us, and we'll be getting an education, just like normal kids."

"We..." Shadow cut himself off. "_I_ am not...normal."

Maria was still for a moment. She raised her arm and pointed to Logan. "Neither is he."

Shadow scoffed. "He hasn't gone though _half_ the things we have."

"You know what I mean."

Shadow thought for a moment. "G.U.N will follow us."

"So will S.H.I.E.L.D. They'll be too busy with each other."

"Fury?"

"He said he'll let us go, right?"

"Not exactly..."

"Yes or no?"

Shadow looked to be getting flustered. "Yes."

"Then what's the problem?"

Shadow cast a glance to Logan and Scott. "They're no different than Magneto. Or S.H.I.E.L.D. They'll cram their ideology down our throats every chance they get."

Maria's face scrunched up in anger. "I happen to believe that _ideology_, Shadow. _Everyone_ can be better. Everyone."

"'Everyone can be better?'" Shadow curled a lip in scepticism. "'Everyone can live together?' You say that all the time, but where's your proof?"

Her face fell with disappointment. "You."

Shadow's shoulders dropped a centimetre. He looked at the ground, his eyes shifting sporadically.

"I..." He stammered.

A long moment passed as Shadow fought for words. If it were physically possible, the X-Men were sure he would have fit both his feet and his ankles into his mouth, he looked so embarrassed.

"We should eat before the meat spoils." Jean pointed this out to break the growing awkwardness of the situation. "Logan, would you mind?"

"I guess..." Logan said with a sigh. He was always stuck with skinning and gutting the meat when they decided to hunt. Even in field training...

Maria walked off toward the _Jet_ and walked up the ramp, leaving Shadow to contemplate the argument. They prepared and cooked the meat, adding some herbs that Logan had mentioned might be in the area and starting a campfire. They talked amongst themselves with polite conversation, and along with a ration each, they had their fill. Aside from asking Jean to check on Maria and Crona, Shadow said nothing for the rest of the night.

Jean walked up the ramp into the dimmed interior of the _Jet_, the only bright light being the light just outside of Crona's cot, where she still lay strapped down. Maria sat in a collapsible chair next to her, bent over on the edge of the bed with her face buried in her crossed arms.

"Maria?"

Maria sat up slowly, brushing her hair away from her face, but not turning to face Jean.

"Yes?"

"I brought some food. Is Crona hungry?"

She nodded in reply. She shook Crona gently, stirring her. The pink haired youth opened her sunken eyes, revealing their pale hue of grey-blue.

"Mari...a..." She said in a tired, tired voice.

"It's time to eat." Maria said quietly. "It's nice food. I helped make it."

"That's..." She seemed to gain a little energy, turning her head to face her. "...very...nice...thanks..."

Maria turned to Jean and held her arms out, gesturing for the food to be handed to her. Jean paused before handing it over, noticing Maria's face was puffy and lines with dry tears.

"Thank you." Maria said quietly before helping feed her friend.

Jean stood there while they ate. If either of them noticed her staring, they didn't acknowledge it. She watched Maria's movements, how she moved slowly and purposefully, like a caretaker for a damaged individual, which, really, seemed like a fair comparison. Jean wanted so much to talk to Maria about what had happened outside between her and Shadow, and she wanted more to ask about their past, how they met, what they had been through, but...but, now...well, it simply wasn't time. There was a lot of pain beneath her sweet exterior, and it would take many years to help her through it.

But with Shadow at her side...he cared for her deeply, despite the way he acted toward the world. Together, they might be able to heal, if not grow.

She bid the young girl goodnight and left to get some sleep herself.

* * *

Ororo woke in the dark to Crona's soft murmuring. It was mostly unintelligible, but it sounded like...she was talking to someone?

Curious, she got up and approached the whispering girl. Boy. Oh, for goodness sakes, whatever!

"Crona?" She spoke in the most gentle whisper she could manage while hoping to be heard; she didn't want to set her off. "Crona? Are you awake?"

"...yes..." Crona's wide sleepless eyes reflected moonlight to create an eerie glow from her face. "I didn't sleep." She slowly turned her face toward her, like a child daring to peek at a spooky closet. "Who are you?"

"My name is Ororo. I'm Maria's friend."

This calmed Crona a little. "Really?" Her eyes came down from their wide position into a gloomy look. "Is she here?"

Ororo nodded her reply. "Did she tell you where we are?"

"Somewhere safe." Crona darted her eyes around quickly. "Where is she?" She asked in a shaky voice.

Ororo stood slowly, reaching up to the light switch on the top of the bunk. Turning it on to half, she pointed to an angelic looking Maria fast asleep at the foot of the bunk. Crona looked at her, and for the first time since the X-Men had met her, smiled. It was brief, and it faded quickly, but it had been there.

"She's very special." Ororo knelt back down. "She's a very good friend."

Crona just kept looking at Maria, unblinking. Ororo was happy to let her for a while, before remembering why she had talked to Crona in the first place.

"Crona, can I ask you something?"

"Hm? Yes." Crona looked back at her, her expression turning gloomy again.

"You were talking when I got up. Who were you talking to."

Crona turned her face away. "No one." She said.

Ororo sighed. Very well, it wouldn't do any good to pry. "Okay. Thanks for talking."

"Don't be so mean..."

Ororo was taken aback. Being mean? How had she been mean. "I'm sorry...I didn't..."

"No." Crona looked back at her. "Ragna...nevermind." She looked away again, leaving Ororo a little more confused. Before Ororo could ask further, Crona's head whipped back around. "Yeah, where is Shadow?" She asked.

Despite the nonsensical question, Ororo looked to where Shadow was sleeping.

_Had_ been sleeping. She looked around the _X-Jet's_ interior. The ramp was closed, the metal plates on the roof were still there. No, wait...one was missing!

* * *

Scott and Ororo walked down the ramp with urgency, looking around for any sign of Shadow. They spotted him quickly, standing fifty meters away from the _X-Jet_ with Director Nick Fury. They rushed over, concerned what S.H.I.E.L.D's director might be trying to con him into.

"We interrupting?" Scott asked in his best tough guy voice. Fury looked unmoved.

"No." Shadow replied instead of Fury. "You're right on time."

"What?"

Shadow gestured to Fury. "I've asked for our meeting to take place at your school."

"What?" Scott asked again. "Why didn't you ask first?"

"Because we're going there anyway." Shadow answered as if it explained everything.

"That's not what I..."

Shadow changed to a hushed whisper. "Could we discuss this later?"

There it was again. Shadow was acting _normal_, like Nightcrawler or Scott's little brother rather than Logan or X23. Regardless, Scott dropped the conversation with Shadow, instead looking to Fury for an explanation.

"Don't look at me." He protested falsely. "Talk to him."

"Thanks..." Shadow muttered.

Fury nodded. "See you there."

As the director walked away, Scott stepped in front of Shadow and started staring him down. "What do you think...?"

"We have to get back to your school quickly." Shadow began walking back to the Jet, his demeanour switching back to what it should be. "G.U.N won't have taken a pit stop like us."

"Hold on." Scott said forcefully. "You just invited _S.H.I.E.L.D_ into our home."

"No. Just Fury." Shadow explained before disappearing up the ramp.

Scott stood there, looking at the ramp. "Can you believe that guy?" He turned to Ororo, pointing a thumb at the _Jet_. "What is with him?"

Ororo shrugged. "I don't know. But he did just agree to come back to the school himself."

Scott shook his head, running a hand through his hair. "Whatever. Let's just go." He looked up at the sky, the first light of dawn just beginning to stretch across it. "I hope the Professor's ready for this jerk."

* * *

**Shadow is manipulating things. And so is Fury. Surprise surprise.**

**I couldn't help but picture Samuel L Jackson's version of Nick Fury when I wrote this. Why? Because he is SAMUEL L JACKSON. I must say it was very fun writing him in this chapter, and I'm looking forward to writing more (even though his appearances are few and far between). I also enjoy writing Xavier, though I'm trying not to write him in such a way that requires the reader to picture Patrick Stewart in the role (doesn't hurt though).**


	10. Chapter Ten

"So, music is based on math?"

"Well, sort of."

Roxas sat at the far end of the table in the dining room, speaking to another student, Forge being what he called himself, who knew some trivia on the subject of music. It turned out; music used a mathematical system in the composition of melodies and rhythm. He never would have guessed...

Roxas' little 'stunt' was eight days ago now, and he was over the worst of his cold. Despite having suffered it, and having put his body under unnecessary strain when he tried to go outside at night, his condition had kept improving; he could move around freely, albeit with some aches and pains. He had caught up again at school, and he was branching out into extracurricular work. All in all, things were looking up.

"So that's how it works." Forge finished his explanation, and Roxas nodded made some polite comments.

"Roxas."

The two boys turned to the source of the voice with different reactions. "X23." They said together, one with a hint of dread, the other with optimism. She stood over them with a even and disinterested expression, seeming to tower over them. An impressive feat for a 'Shorty', though no one dared say so.

"Wassup?" Roxas greeted, trying a new phrase.

Both X23 and Forge stared at him. He felt awkward suddenly. Perhaps he should stop listening to Kurt's suggestions altogether.

"No good?"

"Not really, no." Forge said. "Well, see you around, Roxas." He got up from the seat and walked away. Roxas and X23 turned their attention back to one another.

"How have your drawings been going?"

"Good."

He had found out about her hobby the next time she had gone to see him in the first aid room. She had been a little defensive about it, but showed him some of her work regardless. They had only talked about a few things, switching subject whenever his 'brain-pain' reappeared. She was very interested about where he came from, he had found out. It bothered her, sort of in the same way it bothered the Professor. Yeah, the Professor found it troubling as well, but when he found out about X23's visits and questions, he asked her to stop. He said something about, 'letting his mind figure things out for itself'.

They had both obliged and switched to speaking of other things. She was still tense around him, but she was nice to be around anyway.

"Hey, X23?"

"Yeah?"

"I was wondering; there's another school out there, not very far away, right?" He had heard about it through Kitty.

"Yeah. Why?"

"Rogue said they used to go there." She had said it a little bitterly.

"Why aren't they anymore?"

Roxas smiled. X23 was always doing this; speaking very little, and asking Roxas' questions before he did. She made a small smile with the corner of her mouth in reply.

"Did Xavier tell you about the human-mutant conflict?" She asked.

"Yeah. A little." He didn't have the whole picture, but he knew enough to know there were a lot of reasons to be careful outside the school.

"Well, over the last year, things have been heating up between both sides. It's not safe at the school in town anymore. Some of the parents resorted to homeschooling; that's why there's only fifty-odd students here. The rest of the parents either thought this was the best place for them or something, or they didn't know what else to do."

"Oh..." Roxas looked down at his lap. He didn't think people like him—kids—were being affected by this as well. "Why are the humans so...I dunno...discriminating against mutants?" He used the word _discriminating_ because it was the most used word by the news people. Weird bunch.

"They're afraid."

"Afraid?"

X23 was silent for a long time. Her face became more unreadable than usual, though her eyes were downcast.

"You should get your plate to the kitchen before they switch on the dishwasher." She turned and walked out of the room.

"Bye...then." He called weakly. That was the fourth...no, wait...fifth time she had done that. She just turned and walked away for no reason. Last time it had been when he asked about her mutation, and the time before that they were talking about who the military people were. She just shut off like just then and walked away, giving an over-the-shoulder remark that he or she had to be somewhere.

Roxas sighed. She was funny—the new word he had started using to describe how she acted—but she was so confusing sometimes.

He got up, picked up his plate, and carried it to the kitchen through the double door in the nearby hallway; a duty he had been spared while he was using his walker. He put on top of the pile and went his way to the lounge. Despite his ability to walk himself, he still used the wheelchair access, with Professor Xavier's insistence. He was half way there when there was a loud noise from outside.

The windows shook and the furniture moved. Whatever it was, it was getting closer, as his ears started to hurt from the volume. He saw X23 run past the intersection at the end of the hall. She was moving fast, so it was a sure bet she knew what was going on. He made a limping jog after her, his hands still covering his hurting ears. He rounded the corner to see her staring out a window at something. He could see that what she was looking at was airborne, as her head moved from looking up to down in a slow circular motion.

The sound died down as whatever it was landed. He stopped and caught his breath, taking his hands off his ears. His ears rang. He looked up in time to see X23 run off again. He started after her, but paused as he faintly heard someone call to him through the ringing.

"Roxas!" It was Kitty. "Where are you going?"

"I'm..." He looked back at where X23 had been standing. "_Was_ following X23."

"Oh..." She said in some sort of dramatic exaggeration. "The hunter becomes the hunted."

"What?"

"Nothing." She turned and walked back the way she came. "I better leave you to it. See ya!"

"Wait!" Roxas was confused again. "What...?" He gave up. He'd found that was usually the best thing to do, anyway. He began walking—well, limping really—after X23's trail. Not that she would leave one, but he could make some guesses as to where she went. He turned the corner at the window, stopping and looking out through the glass. There had been leaves all over the basket ball court when he had last looked outside. It was swept clean now. He made mental note of this and continued.

He followed a surprising amount of signs from X23's recent run to where she was going. He supposed wherever she felt she needed to be was quite important for her to disregard something that she was notorious for, stealth, that is. He followed it to a wall. Confusing. Not like he was when he embarrassed X23 or just a few minutes ago when talking with Kitty, but professionally. Why would she have stopped her tracks at a wall? He looked around to see if she had resumed her stealth habit, but found no signs. He re-examined the wall and the surrounding floor. There were other footprints there, though only the faintest signs. The floors and carpets were cleaned regularly, but signs of repeated travel showed in areas like the dining room, kitchen, foyer, and other places. As well as here.

He looked around for some sort of hidden switch or button, as the obvious conclusion was this wall was a secret door. He spotted nothing on the wall area that would surround the secret door, which he was assuming was the size of a regular door, maybe a bit bigger; no lines in the otherwise smooth plaster, except for where he found the sides of the door to be. After a moment, he conceded defeat in this. He didn't know how he was so analytical of things, X23 having brought it up in conversation, or to what degree, but he was sure he was far from capable enough to figure this door out.

He walked away, retreating to the nearest corner to commence a stakeout; not as boastful as figuring it out himself, but still a legitimate method. He soon lost himself in the minutes, his mind focused for the first time on a personal desire since getting into school. He allowed his mind to wonder a few times here and there, of course, but for the most part kept focused on his self assigned task.

He thought back on his last few conversations with X23, starting with the second one they had after he and she spoke for the first time in the first aid room. She had asked again about the Keyblade, though in passing only. She asked a few more questions, which at first seemed entirely unrelated, but he had soon picked up the line of thought; white rooms, battle training, weapons, so on, so forth. She was trying to see if he knew battle, though how 'white rooms' fit into that escaped him. The next time after that, she had opened up a bit; she explained that she and Logan suspected he was a victim of mutant experimentation, hence her questions the last time. She inquired a bit more about the Keyblade after that, which ended with him clutching his head ans nearly passing out. That was when the Professor curbed her curiosity.

With that, he brought his mind off the subject, and onto the next. His flashbacks, as Professor Xavier called them, seemed to get more painful with each episode. He seemed overly...well, maybe not 'overly', but he seemed very concerned about Roxas remembering things by such means as questions and pseudo interrogations.

X23 had protested the Professor's wording, but really, she wasn't fooling anyone.

Now that he thought about it, the Professor was very concerned about his memories. It was more than the pain he got, it was what the memories were. The last time they had spoken, which was the same time as X23 being restricted on her conversation topics, the Professor had asked what it was that flashed through his mind. He explained it was about some people with weapons, bladed things that they were able to summon.

The Professor had reacted to this; he'd told him not to mention these things to anyone else, and to keep any further recollections between the two of them. At the time, it hadn't seemed out of place, the Professor's manner of speaking making what he was really saying subliminal, but now it was plain that the Professor was afraid of something.

His trail of thought was interrupted by the secret door opening. Finally; he was getting bored of his own thoughts! The door opened and Mr. Summers ran out. He remembered X23 mentioning that the Mr. Logan and the other teachers had gone off somewhere for a while. As he made a dash for the door, he noted that both Scott was wearing some sort of odd clothing; a full body black jumpsuit, or something. And he was wearing something on his head.

He made it through the door, and it closed behind him. Odd. Regardless, he leant back on the wall of the small room he was now in, catching his breath.

_I'm out of shape, aren't I?_

Hopefully Mr. Logan wouldn't mind helping him get fit, but first things first; find X23. He looked around the round room. There was a panel of some sort with two buttons, one with an arrow pointing up and the other with an arrow pointing down. An elevator. He pushed the down button, and the elevator did as instructed. A second later the other side of the elevator opened with a _woosh_. He turned around to look out the unexpected second door—

"Roxas! What do you think you are doing?"

Professor Xavier was facing him. He was clearly angry with him.

"I..uh..." He fumbled for an excuse. "Did...X23 come through...here?" He said weakly.

The Professor breathed and seemed to calm down. "Yes, but she's very busy." He motored into the elevator and pushed the up button. "And you can't be down here. This is off limits."

"Why?" He looked over the Professor's shoulder at the hall behind him as the doors closed and the elevator moved again. "What's down there?"

The elevator opened, and they both moved out, the Professor gesturing for Roxas to follow him down the halls to wherever it was he was being led. "As I explained to you when you first awoke, there is a great dispute between humanity and mutants, which is nearing a boiling point. I am one of many looking for the best interests of mutant and human alike, and those lower levels you just saw are where I do most of my work toward that goal." He stopped at the door to the kitchen. "But my work, and concordantly that of the other teachers and senior students, is off limits to the rest of the school. There are things that the rest of the youths are better off not knowing. Do you understand?"

Roxas shifted under his gaze. He didn't understand completely, or maybe it was just his curiosity playing with him again, but he did understand that this was important to the Professor; something he took seriously. And it was a safe bet that X23 would take it seriously as well.

"I understand. Sorry for going down there."

"It's alright. Just don't be so nosy in future."

Roxas stayed still as the Professor went back down the halls to the elevator. He couldn't help but think that something was off suddenly.

The kitchen door opened and Bobby stepped through. "Hey, Roxas." He greeted.

Roxas jumped and turned to him, a little startled. "Oh. Hey." Roxas noticed a washing rag in Bobby's hands. "How's the washing up going?"

"Good thing you asked;" Bobby tossed the rag into Roxas hands. "Just got a call from Professor X, so I gotta go. Mind finishing up?"

Had the Professor just led him here to be stuck with this job?

"Uh..sure?"

"Great." Bobby gave a thumbs up. "Good luck."

Roxas sighed and entered the kitchen. There were a lot of plates and silverware suddenly in his view.

"Great..."

* * *

Xavier came back down through the elevator. He'd managed to keep his aura of calm for Roxas' sake, but now that he was away from the eyes of the students, he could be open about his concerns. Namely, the three new arrivals that were now bringing a confrontation to his school.

He had already been debriefed on the situation by Ororo and Logan, and had been contacted in advance by Captain Rodgers at Director Fury's request, and now he had to discern exactly on what scale the coming confrontation would be.

"Shadow." He began. "I need you to be _completely_ open with me, despite your clear distrust of myself and my friends."

"I'll be honest." The red eyed man replied. The evasive answer didn't go unnoticed.

"What is 'Weapon-Y'?"

"G.U.N's answer to Weapon-X."

"What is its purpose?"

"The same as that of Weapon-X."

Shadow had been trained to resist interrogation, clearly, and no doubt viewed the situation as such. The short answers were frustrating to a small degree, but Xavier wasn't after his life story. Regardless, his patience was finite, so he decided to change the subject to a more productive one.

"What risks and-or measures would G.U.N go to to reclaim you and your friends?"

"An all out attack is worth considering to them, but they would not likely risk S.H.I.E.L.D's intervention, let alone another all out fight so soon." He glanced at the door to the room they were in. "Depending on how you prepare, they may send in an extraction team, or an infiltration force."

"How I prepare?" If he had any suggestions, he wanted them.

"Did Fury contact you?"

"Indirectly."

"Did he offer help?"

"His proxy insinuated as much."

Shadow paused. "If G.U.N gets inside the school, Maria and I won't stay for long after."

"If you've brought the sort of trouble that I can't fend off, then that would be best, for my students and the young ladies." Xavier said evenly.

Shadow tilted his head to one side. "Kicking us out already?"

"I meant no threat, but if I can't defend you, then you would be better off on your own, as you said to my team."

Shadow scoffed. "They already gave me that deal." He said, nodding in the direction of the door. "I don't need it sold to me twice." By 'deal' he meant the psychological manipulation of viewing the situation as a sort of test; the X-Men win, they stay, and if they lose, they are free to go.

Xavier readjusted his position in his chair and continued. "_If_ I requested outside help, would you disagree to it?"

"Depends; who would you bring in?"

"Not S.H.I.L.E.D." Xavier reassured. "The Avengers, maybe. Is that agreeable?"

Shadow eyed the Professor as he thought. "...Yes." He said slowly.

"Good. Will I need them in the first place?"

"I can't say."

"Will G.U.N use other mutants, advanced weapons, gasses?"

"They may use one or all."

"If they use any of them, will I need outside help?"

"Can you or can you not keep Maria and I safe?" Shadow asked in a slightly elevated tone, clearly losing patience.

The tone in the young man's voice struck a chord, and the scholar decided he'd had enough of this. "Young man," Xavier sat straighter and spoke with the full command of his voice. "It is not every day I am confronted with assassins and armies. I defend a school, with more escape plans than retaliatory defences. If I am about to face something that has the potential to be more than I alone can handle, then I need to be informed of such. You, Shadow, are the only one who can reliably tell me how much danger my students are in.

"My concern as to whether or not you and Maria choose to stay in my school is, for lack of better wording, irrelevant to me." His volume raised as his indignation with Shadow's behaviour came to the fore. "Right now, I care only about protecting my students, and if you continue to shut out my request for assistance and refuse to advise a course of action, then I will send you and your two friends on your way immediately. I refuse to jeopardise this school because of misinformation and half truths!"

Xavier stared Shadow down in a tense half second. "Damn you, young man, you _will_ help me."

A piercing silence followed as Shadow stared at the bald man in front of him. "G.U.N won't care about your students. If you put them out of sight, they'll be safe. Down in these levels would be ideal, but this would also be the safest place to put Maria and Crona. Aside from that, and assuming that there are no other means to access these sections of your humanitarian operations, the main building of your school will be the first and best line of your defence."

Xavier sat back and nodded, satisfied he had gotten through to him. "Can you accurately estimate what G.U.N will send in?"

Shadow looked away and thought for a moment. "They'll want to keep their numbers down..." He thought for a moment more. "They'll send in a dozen men at most. They'll have some C4 that they will use on sealed doors and walls, but nothing else explosive. As for other armaments, and whether or not they will be mutates, they will definitely carry small firearms, maybe a rifle on every second man, and have close quarter weapons as well.

I can't rule out them having powers of any sort, but it is very unlikely that any of them will posses a healing factor. G.U.N had to start from scratch in that area, and as far as I know, I was in possession of it since my creation."

"Creation?" Xavier asked. "How do you mean?"

"Is this relevant?" Shadow asked with renewed distrust.

"If G.U.N created you with a healing factor, they could have created others." Xavier explained.

"It isn't." He said, lowering his suspicion. "I wasn't engineered from a Petri dish. Cloning or gene manipulation, I don't know. The best they've managed aside from me is lessened recovery time." Shadow looked back at Xavier then to the door. "Going by all individuals of note on your staff and in your school roster, you can mount a defence on your own." He tapped a finger once before looking back at Xavier. "There will be casualties."

"I see." Xavier wasn't knew to the idea of losing someone, despite avoiding it for a long time. Dying defending their shared cause was something that came with opposing worldwide racism, and it was a sacrifice he had come close to making himself at times. If he asked it of his friends, they would abide by the request. He breathed in as he prepared to ask his final set of questions.

"Will you help?"

Shadow was silent for a moment, looking at the floor and fidgeting his folded arms. "I haven't decided."

Xavier felt anger rise in his chest at the indecision, but restrained it. He had a right to expect the young man in front of him to help defend against the threat he had brought upon them, but demanding it would be counter-productive.

"Well." He said with a bit of anger's energy behind his voice. "Thank you for your help." He motored to the door, which opened automatically at his approach. As the door closed behind him, he sent a telepathic message for his senior staff to come to the hanger control room.

* * *

Everyone was going by their codenames, a standard operating procedure for missions and a fad amongst the younger ones at the school. Shadowcat, Nightcrawler, and Rogue sat in their own corner in the lower level gym from the other field students, that is, those students that were capable of handling and contributing to missions. Every other student was waiting in the Bunker, a secure section in the lower levels the size of a house that had a large variety of last resort countermeasures.

"So, what do you think the mission is?"

"No idea." Shadowcat shrugged. "But it's gotta be big for all of us to be down here."

"Must be a lot of ground to cover or something."

"Hey, what about those new mutants they brought back?"

"What about them?"

"You think maybe there's more? Like, maybe there's more out there, and we need to rescue them?"

"Yeah! That could be it. What do you think, Rogue?"

Nightcrawler turned to his sister. Rogue was sitting in a huddled position, a grim and worried look on her face.

"Sis?"

"Hm?" Rogue looked up. "What?"

"You alright?" Nightcrawler asked, concerned.

"It's..."

"Yeah?"

"What' s up?" Shadowcat had noticed the strange behaviour from her friend now.

Rogue changed her position to a cross legged sit. "Everyone's in the Bunker." She said in a tone of conspiracy.

"So?" Nightcrawler inquired.

"They're down there, we're all assembled here." She went through her evidence at a rapid pace. "Xavier's in a rush, the school's empty, everything being locked and passworded: Scott and the rest brought trouble back with them."

"Trouble?"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Shadowcat was taking it seriously now. "You think someone's going to attack the school?"

"Yeah. I think maybe we're..."

The door to the gym opened and Cyclops stepped through.

"Everyone, to your teams."

The field students got up, bidding each other farewell and good luck. They left their circles and stood in units of three.

Cannonball, Multiple, and Bezerker stood in one group to complete a team suited for brute or direct methods, one often led by Cyclops. Iceman, Rouge, and X23 with Jean made a takedown team, good for single opponents. Magma, Jubilee, and Sunspot, led by Storm, was typically on area clearing, but could handle the close up business well enough. Shadowcat, Nightcrawler, and Wolfsbane were the stealth team, with Wolverine usually taking point. However, as soon as their seniors walked in, Cyclops taking the lead, they all realised the same thing Rogue had. Something was terribly different. Terribly wrong.

"We're not going on a mission. The school's going to be attacked." Cyclops' words earned a gasp from Shadowcat, but everyone else was dead silent from fear. It was never talked about, but it was known by the students and teachers alike that an attack on the school was the worst thing that could happen. This was home, and to be attacked here...

"No one here is going to down play this. We're about to face killers at our front steps, and some of us might be killed trying to hold them back. If we don't hold them off, if we can't do in the doors of our home what we've been doing the last decade, everything we have worked for, everything and everyone we care about will be destroyed or killed."

The field students cast glances at each other, seeing trembling terror and grim determination in unexpected faces. "What's our plan?" Nightcrawler spoke up, bringing everyone's thoughts back to what was being said.

"The teams are going to be changed up a bit. Storm's team and mine are the same, but X23 and Wolverine are working separate this time around."

Rogue and Iceman looked to the middle of their trio. X23 looked at Wolverine, who gave a nod.

"Storm's team will handle the hanger; there's plenty of room in there for you to cause trouble." Cyclops pulled as good a smirk as he could muster. "Don't worry about making a mess, we've nailed everything down already." It earned a smirk or two from the students in question, but that was about it. "Jean will handle the main elevators." Looking to Rogue and Iceman, he said, "She'll go over a few plans with you once we're done here.

"My team will be on the last line of defence. If all else fails, we'll send the Bunker on its way. If they manage to get past everyone else, I don't think we'll have much of a chance." He looked at his team, Cannonball and Bezerker giving solemn nods and Multiple giving a trembling nod of his own.

"And me and Logan?" X23 was looking up at the ceiling before looking back at Scott. "We're handling up top?"

"Yeah." Cyclops' voice was quiet. Logan put a hand on his friends shoulder reassuringly.

"We'll be fine." He said.

"Fine against what?" X23 was suspicious now.

Cyclops took a breath and stood straight again. "It's G.U.N who's kicking down our door."

This caused gasps all around. Little was known about G.U.N's workings, really, the same as S.H.I.E.L.D, but it was known as living up to the Frankenstein/Area 51 stereotypes. Even X23, usually calm in these situations, was now scared. Hydra was eager to get her back, but they viewed her as a resource. G.U.N would...she shuddered.

"That's the plan." Cyclops said, closing his rallying speech. "Let's get ready. Hell cometh this way." The imitation of Xavier's mannerisms aside, Scott sounded every bit as grim about the situation as Logan might were he taking lead. As the field students filled out, he rubbed his forehead in fatigue. He was just as scared as them, but he had the burden of not being allowed to show it. He felt a shaking in his right hand.

He looked up to watch the last students leaving, going to the areas they were to defend. X23 meanwhile went to the elevators back to the school.

"Not bad." Storm said shakily from behind.

"Thanks" Cyclops looked to Jean. "You alright?"

Jean was standing with the knuckle of her fist to her lip. With the students' attention away from them, she could allow her nervousness to show. "Fine. But I'm going to get you for putting me in on the front line."

"Sorry, but...strategy." He shrugged. "Will the other two manage?"

"They'll hold up." She said, raising her head from her hand.

"And you two?" Asked Wolverine.

Cyclops looked to his friend, then back to Jean and then Storm. "We'll be fine."

"Good."

Storm placed a hand on Jean's shoulder. "We should get ready."

Jean gave a nod, then left to join her two teammates, Storm doing the same. Cyclops watched them leave, and then went to the door to make his way to the Bunker. He stopped in the door and turned back to Wolverine.

"Hey, those 'mass production' guys that attacked us; did they seem to have any sort of mutation?"

Wolverine thought a moment before answering, "...No, now that I think about it. Why?"

"Shadow said they were Weapon-X copies. Shouldn't they have had...I dunno, something other than guns and swords?"

"They were Immortal." Came an answer from a nearby door. Shadow was leaning in the doorway of the hall to the main elevator. "That's their mutation; they have no need of vital organs, blood, air, anything. They also have increased bone, muscle, and skin durability, superhuman reflexes, and low level telepathy, though it's seldom used as far as I know."

"Organs..." Cyclops murmured.

"So how come we beat them, then?" Wolverine was sceptical about the words invincible, invulnerable, and, more to the point, immortal.

"_Immortal_. Not invincible." Shadow clarified. "But that's not much use if you've been dismembered."

"Is that why they want you back so bad?" Cyclops ventured, jumping on a distraction from the situation. "Your healing factor?"

"That's one of the reasons, yes."

"Do you have that mutation?" Wolverine turned to face him. "Immortal, I mean."

"No." Shadow thought for a moment. "They'll know who you are. X23 as well. If you get taken down..."

"Thanks for the tip." Wolverine said, cutting Shadow off. He gave a nod for Cyclops to go. Cyclops stood still for a moment, looking between the two, before complying. Once he was out of the room, Wolverine got to business. "You going to help out?"

"Yes."

Wolverine crossed his arms and looked the young man up and down. "Didn't think you would. You're with me, then. Topside."

"Lots of nooks and crannies to hide in up there." Shadow said this as though it were a problem.

"That's why you, me, and X23 are handling it."

"Fire with fire, right?"

Wolverine nodded in reply.

"Still, like I said, they'll want you alive as much as me."

"Me and X23 know what's at stake." The older man said curtly. "We signed up for it when we each came here."

Shadow sighed, unblinking. "No, not for this you didn't."

"You think I don't know what those people do?" Wolverine's voice took on a tone of righteous indigntation. "You think I'm going up there without a clue of what will happen to me."

"So you want to keep your friends safe so bad, you don't care." Shadow looked unimpressed. "Is that it?"

"You stuck up sonovabitch." Wolverine snarled. "I want to keep them safe, so I'm putting myself out there instead of them. If I hit them hard enough, if I give them hell before I go down, maybe they'll cut their losses and _leave them alone_."

Shadow stood silent, holding the bigger man's gaze. "Believe what you will." He turned and walked away. "But what they'll do to you won't be worth the sacrifice. Know that."

Wolverine shook his head as Shadow's figure disappeared around the corner. "Whatever."

_'You don't seem to be getting along with him well...'_

The voice sounded like it came from all around, but he knew it's source."Yeah, well, it doesn't help that he's an ass." Wolverine leaned against a wall as he and Xavier conversed.

_'Bear with his behaviour, for now at least.'_

"The others might not let off beating some manners into him." Logan mentioned.

_'They will do no such thing. Not in my school. And you will make sure of that. '_

Wolverine took a breath. "Didn't mean I was going to turn a blind eye, professor, but you get my point; he needs to learn some respect."

_'I know. Please, Logan. Be patient with him. He'll sort himself out.'_

"You really think so?" Wolverine knew from experience it was rarely that easy, that people should change themselves.

_'Yes. He did volunteer to help, after all.'_

"Yeah." He had. But why, he did not know. He didn't know why he had gone along with Fury's request either. "Did Fury tell you the deal?"

_'About he, Crona, and Maria being let go?'_

"About Shadow identifying G.U.N's equipment for him here."

_'Ah, yes. Yes he did. You find it odd that he agreed?'_

"Everything he did out there was odd. He plays goes along with Fury's act, then opens our door to him...it doesn't make sense."

_'It does. He's been raised in a military environment. It's how he thinks, how he reasons. Terrain, numbers, deception. He wants Fury alone, on neutral ground, with the illusion that he is manipulating Shadow into viewing him as an ally."_

That...made sense. Yes, he was right. "You figured that out quick." Logan observed.

_'I _am_ a telepath. Psychology is quite a useful thing to learn when you have that gift, though it's little help against an invasion.'_

"You read his mind?"

_' I was tempted when asking him of what G.U.N would send, but no.'_

"Speaking of which..." Wolverine stood up from the wall and made his way to the elevator.

_'Yes. Good luck, Logan.'_

"Thanks, Professor."

* * *

**You know what happens next. Wolverine, X23, and Shadow, three healing factor, adamantium bladed, kick arse superhumans vs immortal assassins. Use your imagination.**

**Going over Shadow's personality, and having played some games with him in it, it seemed most likely to me that his attitude and behaviour would get on the nerves of the senior X-Men, though I would like to point out that he only got on Xavier's bad side because of the situation and general indignation at his (for lack of better wording) selfish line of thought.**

**I hope I've solidified a difference between G.U.N and whatever else they might be compared to (Hydra, most notably). They're totally inhumane in this. As for Hydra itself, I know that Madame Hydra was killed, but it *is* an organisation, so it would have maybe gone off the radar instead of going under. I may merge them into some other organisation as a cheap way to get rid of them, or just have them outright knocked off by S.H.I.E.L.D or the Brotherhood. Either way, whatever.**

**Side note: I've noticed a brilliant little oportunity; in the reviews, one person stated that the XME Fury was a white guy, which I was fully aware of. But the way I wrote it left it open for interperetation (unintentional). I'll do that from time to time with other characters, I think, just to experiment (no, I won't point out where I do it. Pointing out Fury is the only exception).**


	11. Chapter Eleven

Logan, X23, and Shadow leaned, stalked, and stood around the main foyer. There was no tension between them, no fear, no words. Just the calm before the storm. Xavier would keep his mind's eye on what was going on outside, informing them when the enemy was closing in; if they were telepaths, like Shadow said, they would likely be using that to communicate, which Xavier could pick up on.

Thus far, they had had an excess of time to themselves. G.U.N might just be being cautious, or they might be sneaking up slowly. Either way, the three of them were going to be ready. Logan—Wolverine, had pointed out his lacklustre performance on the _X-Jet_, but Shadow had assured him it was due to things having gone up a notch in the last decade. Regardless, the sparring to prepare themselves ended with all three of them more than ready.

"Don't make too much of a mess," Wolverine was just making talk, not chiding the other two. "We have to clean up after."

Shadow, not entertaining this, stared in indignation for a second before walking off to find a perch; he was to take the offence, while Wolverine and X23 were on defence, keeping the invaders from the main elevator to the lower levels. The other ways down had been welded shut in every practical way.

"First kill gets dishes."

Logan looked down at X23. Making bets... "Nervous?"

"No." She said proudly.

Logan said nothing. Best to leave her with that denial, as she was used to controlling her feelings like that. Changing your technique just before a fight was never a good idea—

He and X23 cocked their heads in response to the sound of breaking glass and listened for further sounds.

_'They're coming. West and east wings, through the windows.'_

X23 swivelled her head around before realising the voice; she was new to having a telepath in her life. Wolverine gave her a nudge to grab her attention and pointed to a very large bookcase to one side of the hidden elevator door.

"Do a better job than what you do for Roxas, okay?"

X23 said nothing in reply, instead taking to the perch with a little more speed in each movement to show her annoyance. Wolverine, not suited to or practiced in stealth anymore, crouched beside the other bookcase and waited. There were a few minutes that lasted eternity before he picked up something, a sound from the far side of the building. Metal cutting metal. They had found one of the doors, and were cutting through. _Those swords_ Wolverine remembered.

There was another sound, closer, that very much resembled whispering. _They're telepath's, right? _Wolverine thought, trying to reason why they would be using verbal speech to communicate. _Unless...ah, Xavier. _That made sense, that he would be running interference with that. Wolverine made a mental note of this.

The whispering stopped and Wolverine felt the hair on the back of his neck rise. He tensed, coiling his muscles and loosening his joints. He might be a little out of shape, regardless of Shadow's assurances, but he wasn't the least bit rusty in his senses.

_Three, two..._

_One_ was marked by an assassin leaping in straight for his torso. What was that Shadow was saying about things going up a notch since he left? Wolverine simply raised his arm up and extended his claws, allowing the masked idiot to impale himself. The other two came around the corner,—no, wait...three more? New odds. Time to even it up.

As if on cue with his thoughts, X23 dropped down from her perch and landed a clawed handstand on the rear assassin's shoulders, cart wheeling down to slash the assassin in front of that one, who had turned around to his companion's scream.

With those two handled, Wolverine was free to take on the other two. The first came on, like the last one, but his back up meant the contemptuous solution would leave him vulnerable. He dodged to one side, making a cautious swipe as the assassin went by, making a cut on the thigh. The other drew his sword and came on with a flurry of stabs and thrusts, his companion regaining his footing with haste.

Dodging to the side, he took a swipe at the sword held by his opponent. His claws glanced off. Adamantium blades. Nothing he hadn't faced before. He pushed off the ground with the ball of his foot, reversing his momentum in the opposite direction. With a twist of his wrist, he trapped the second assassin's blade between his claws, before putting him in a headlock. Instead of simply giving a quick hard twist to the intruder's neck, Wolverine swung him in the path of the first assassin, who was coming in with a powerful overhead chop.

Wolverine was bewildered when this backfired; the first assassin carried through with the strike, cleaving his ally's head in two and taking a slice out of the side of Wolverine's scalp as the sword concussed him. In a blind and dazed panic, Wolverine stumbled back and fell to the ground, faintly registering the second assassin falling limply from his grasp and the first assassin stepping over him to finish him off. His mind caught up in time to avoid a decapitation, flinching his neck to the side to protect the vulnerable joints between his vertebrae.

The assassin tried to withdraw the blade, but Wolverine scissor kicked at the assassin's knees, bringing him to the ground as well, before rolling backward over himself to get off the blade and regain his footing. Standing again, he caught a brief glimpse of the other assassin, the one with the now split head. Aside from some weak movement of his limbs, he was out.

The remaining assassin charged, discarding his sword and instead drawing a knife. Wolverine went to defence, deciding to get a better idea of how his opponent fought. If he'd knock out his own ally, that made room for all sorts of over the top unorthodoxy. The assassin came in and hacked for Wolverine's shoulder, causing Wolverine to block with his forearm. The assassin dropped the knife from the hand it was in to the other, grabbing Wolverine's forearm with the now free hand. Catching the knife, he brought it across Wolverines side, tearing his flesh and sliding across bone, continuing through and out to bring it up to eye level. He narrowly missed the spinal cord when he rammed it into the back of the X-Man's neck.

Wolverine snarled through the pain and fatigue and kicked out at the assassin, catching him in the gut. Then it clicked for him, how to beat the assassin. The assassin was using strikes that would kill a human again and again to wear him down. Wolverine couldn't get a hit in _during_ the move, but _afterward_ the assassin was vulnerable.

Wolverine took the knife out of the back of his neck, wincing as the jagged back edge tore at his flesh, and turned toward the assassin, who was again charging at him. Wolverine figured whatever the assassin was about to do, it would involve the knife. He threw it over his shoulder. Blades were as bad as bullets...

The assassin leapt high in the air, and Wolverine braced himself. The assassin leapfrogged off of his shoulders, somersaulting in mid air to catch the still airborne knife. Dammit. This was gonna hurt like hell.

The assassin landed and spun a kick at Wolverine's leg. Wolverine gave ground, avoiding a dislocated knee, and gave a roundhouse in return. The assassin grabbed the leg and threw Wolverine to the ground. The assassin dropped his knee into Wolverine's chest and stabbed the knife into the side of his neck.

Wolverine knew what he would do next; rip the knife from one side of his neck to the other, practically decapitating him aside from his spine. That would leave the assassin's right side vulnerable. The assassin followed through with this, and Wolverine made his move. He shoved his claws into the underneath of the shoulder, twisting his wrist violently to sever bone, muscle and tendon to leave the limb hanging limply.

The assassin screamed and rolled of, clutching at his wound. Wolverine leapt to his feet, hacking down and carving across the assassin's back. Two more swipes, and his spine was out. 'That was a chore', he thought. He turned to go help X23, who he figured might appreciate the help—

He barely got his neck out of range of a definite decapitating strike. The other assassin had cut a length of cloth from something and tied his head back together.

_What the fu—?_

* * *

X23 kicked her toe spike into the underneath of the still standing assassins jaw before performing a backward handspring to land on the other. The one beneath her, whom she had disabled by slashing the ligaments of the kneecaps, was in the act of reloading when X23's weight drove the wind from his lungs, distracting him long enough for X23 to slash the gun in half along with his hand.

With that done, the assassin was out of it, immortality or no.

The other one stood with its two guns drawn, unsure of whether to bother using them. Not waiting for him to make up his mind, X23 leapt forward and took a swipe at him. The assassin backed off, firing both guns. X23 ducked into a midair roll and landed with another roll, dodging each shot and coming up beside the assassin. The assassin struck for her face, bringing his leg up for a roundhouse.

As X23 blocked the two strikes she heard Wolverine make a startled sound. She stole a glance over her shoulder to see what the commotion was.

Wolverine was on the defence against one of the assassins, who had bandaged his head. The assassin pushed forward, forcing Wolverine back and stumbling over the previous assassin—who then grabbed his leg. Wolverine kicked him off in a repulsed panic, while the still-standing assassin leapt over his head to land behind him.

Making a annoyed grunt, X23 kicked the assassin she was fighting in the back of the knee and disengaged. She charged into a leaping kick into the back of the assassin standing over Wolverine. The assassin fell forward into a roll and righted himself effortlessly.

"Would you..." X23 snarled between swipes at the disabled assassin arm. "Stop messing around?!"

Wolverine responded by rolling on his side, avoiding the downward chop of the assassin now standing over his head, before rolling the other way and knocking the blade from his grip. The assassin that X23 had been fighting moments earlier charged in at both Wolverine and X23, guns blazing. Cliché, almost.

X23, not caring at all as the bullets pierced flesh, lunged forward to meet the assassin. Her opponants size and bulk knocked her aside, but not without losing the tendons in a forearm. Wolverine, having kicked the other assassin away for a moment, grabbed the distracted and maimed invader and hoisted him over himself. His spine made an exhilarating _pop-crack_ as it broke over Wolverines knee.

"Keep your distance from him." Wolverine said as he discarded the assassin. X23 complied and circled around the assassin, converging with wolverine on the remaining one.

Who turned and fled.

"Don't go after him!" Wolverine called to X23. "We guard this door."

X23 stopped short in her pursuit as commanded. "Xavier," She said aloud, "How are the others doing?"

There was no reply.

"Xavier?" X23 called again. "Professor? Are you there?"

"Scott, Jean, Storm, respond." Wolverine spoke into his earpiece with growing alarm. "Anyone?"

"...kinda busy down here, you know?!" Cyclops' voice crackled through.

"We just fought off a bunch of hostiles. How about you?"

"We haven't seen action just yet."

"Storm and Jean?"

"Jean's having limited difficulty as far as I know. Storm has wounded."

"Who?"

"Jubilee."

"She alright."

"No idea."

"How many hostiles left standing down there?"

"Five, on last check; two at the elevators, three in the hangar."

"How's the professor."

"Busy handling the other telepaths. Sounds like they're ganging up on him."

"How's Nightcrawler doing?"

"He hasn't answered since the fighting began over there."

Wolverine thought for a moment. Nightcrawler had been left in charge, and that wasn't a bad thing; he was fully competent, like most of the other senior students. But would he remember to check in during a fight? If he was in trouble, could X23 or himself go down there to help?

"Dammit, Professor, give me something..." He muttered.

_'Help...Shadow...'_

"Professor?" Wolverine said aloud.

"Did he say something?" Cyclops asked.

"He said...hold on a sec." Wolverine focused on his thoughts as Xavier spoke more.

_'Others are fine. Shadow is fighting like me...Help him...He can help me.'_

"What?"

"What did he say?"

Wolverine stood still a moment, trying to figure out what he should do before coming back to the now. "He said Shadow's...I dunno, fighting like he is."

The words must have made more sense for Cyclops than for Wolverine. "Go help him." Cyclops ordered.

* * *

They rounded the corner to the lobby into...they didn't know what. The lobby was trashed in a variety of ways, but what really stood out was Shadow fighting off three of those assassins, with five more crouching nearer the demolished front doors with their heads bowed.

Shadow was skipping and contorting around, evading instead of fighting. The three standing assassins, one with two guns, another with a knife and the other with some sort of electric baton, were moving at a considerably slower pace than that of the ones Wolverine and X23 had been fighting minutes before.

"Any time now!" Shadow called, finally noticing the two of them. One of the crouching assassins looked up at Shadow's outcry. It looked to two of the other assassins, who stood up from whatever they were doing, drew their weapons and moved toward them.

Wolverine rolled under a sword swipe and charged at the two still crouching assassins. Decapitation served as a distraction only, but it would be enough, he hoped. He caught one across the neck, leaving two segments of neck on the ground, but the other assassin came to in time to get away with only a deep gash in his jaw.

_'Good work.' _Came Xavier's voice. _'As Shadow said, they are telepathic. They were combining their efforts to hinder mine and Shadow's telepathy.'_

_Shadow's telepathy?_ Wolverine thought. Before he could figure out what he meant, the assassin he ducked took another swing before hitting Wolverine with a reverse spin kick. Wolverine grunted and fell into a roll to come to his feet. The assassin came on, swinging for his head.

Wolverine brought his arms up to block, but then the assassin was barged to the side by the body of another assassin. Wolverine looked in the direction of where the body had come from and saw X23 fighting the two other assassins that had gone for her.

"Thanks." He said. He charged at the two assassins tasked to him. They had both gotten back up, but Wolverine had an advantage in momentum. He hoisted one assassin up and threw him over a couch, the other one scrambling for a weapon. Wolverine turned in time to be shot in the middle of his forehead, stunning him a moment.

The next thing he knew, he was in a headlock. He briefly considered trying to cut off an arm to free himself, but that wouldn't work if the blades available were attached to his fists as they were. He fell back on his brute strength, lurching forward in an attempt to flip the assassin over his back, but the mutate held fast. Wolverine saw out of the corner of his eye the other assassin getting back over the couch, and upon seeing himself and the assassin in a bind, moved for the nearest sword.

Wolverine tried some more methods of getting out of a choke hold, growing desperate with the prospect of being stabbed _again_, but nothing worked.

The was a searing pain at his back that knocked the wind from him. He belatedly took note of the length of metal protruding from his torso. Then there was another! He heard another cry of pain along with his own with each stab. He realised that, not only was he being impaled with multiple weapons, but they were being put into his back via _the other assassins back first_!

_These guys don't give a crap about each other!_ Wolverine thought. _Now would be a great time for a trump card..._

* * *

_Hmph. How incompetent. They offer us protection they can't provide. And yet, Maria puts faith in them. Can't she see, that they can't hold against G.U.N on their own?_

Shadow threw one assassin off his back, ramming a spiked fist into the face of another. He reached into its mind, taking advantage of its distraction, and disrupted its sense of direction. He threw a glance in Wolverine's direction. He was impaled to an assassin, with another one holding his head and digging into his mind.

He looked next to X23. She was still moving around, but she was losing. She looked on the verge of panic. How poorly must the others be doing?

_You just don't get it do you, Maria? We can't rely on others. You don't understand. _He discarded the assassin and turned to the other two, they stood with both their swords and a gun each. _You just don't understand._

_ I do._Maria's voice spoke in his head of its own accord._I'm not a child anymore. _Was he imagining things? No, no, he remembered this conversation. Almost two weeks ago, when they decided to escape:

_"You're twelve. That's hardly an adult."_

_ "You're not _listening_ to me."_

_ "I _am,_ Maria. In here, we have what we need to survive."_

_ "This isn't surviving..." _Maria's voice had quivered then. What she had just been through the day before...God, why _her_?

_"We're safer in here than out there."_

_ "Once they're done with me..."_

_ "They wouldn't dare. You're..."_

_ "What they use to control you. That's why we have to go."_

_ "We'll be killed. _You'll_ be killed."_

_ "I'll be _free._ And so will you, if we try."_

Free. That's what she had..._does_...want. And she had it now. He had said she didn't know the risks, and she proved him wrong. He had said they'd be dead, and now...

Shadow's muscled coiled, his face set like iron and his blood surged like fire through his fists. She would not be wrong about this. It could work. I will. _I will try, Maria, for you!_

He punched forward at the neares assassins face, putting his all into the strike.

And suddenly, bedlam erupted around him. His fist burst a torrent of green destruction, blowing away flesh and searing bone to leave the assassin without a front half. He drew back his hand as fast as he could, shocked by what had just happened.

_They...they'd said this one hadn't worked! How?! _Shadow's thoughts quickly moved from his hands to the two remaining assassins, who were getting up from being blown back from the blast. Uncertain as to how this newfound ability worked, Shadow resorted to trying to replicate what he had done before; he punched his fist out at one of them, only to produce a smaller burst of green energy.

The assassins caught on to his inexperience and charged. Shadow fell back, trying again and again to replicate the feat. One assassin, the one with a crumpled face, attacked with his fists. Shadow, failing again, decided to try something else; he caught the assassin's first strike, and tried again. The arm disappeared in a shower of ash and blood. He reached out and grabbed the assassin by the neck, and disintegrated that. The other assassin stood frozen. It looked from Shadow to X23 and Wolverine, who had regained an advantage in the confusion of the initial blast, then back to Shadow. He turned and ran.

"You'll wish you'd stayed..." Shadow's voice carried a hint of pity.

He turned and walked to Wolverine and the two assassins attacking him. The assassins didn't notice his approach until he had sunk his claws into one of their backs and hoisted the assassin up. The distraction caused by this gave Wolverine a window of opportunity, which he used to take an arm from his opponent.

Rather than deliver a coup de grace with his newfound power, Shadow threw the assassin into the other two attacking X23. X23 saw it coming and twisted out of the way, letting the assassins fall into a pile. She flipped over to stand with Wolverine and Shadow.

"Are they going to send reinforcements?" She asked.

Shadow tensed and reeled an arm back.

"Shadow?" X23 looked at him. "What are you—?"

"Work, dammit..." Shadow punched out, nearly dislocating his arm with the momentum. The movement produce a brilliant wave of green, obliterating the assassins where they stood. The light faded to reveal a wide line of scorched earth in front of the school.

"Yes!" Shadow pumped a fist, causing another small burst. He quickly put his arm by his side, making a mental note to mind his motions.

"How did you do that?" Wolverine more demanded than asked.

"I'm not sure. But we've got other things to take care of."

"How is everyone down there?" X23 said holding her finger to her earpiece.

"We've taken a beating, but we're fine." Cyclops said.

"We've taken them out." Jean chimed through.

"They're on the run." Storm announced.

"I'm getting to lead missions for this, right?" Nightcrawler called.

Wolverine's face lit up with pride. Shadow scoffed, dismissing it as luck. _He _had won this battle here, not these two, and the X-Men had probably barely won.

_ 'Everyone, get to the Bunker! We've been tricked!'_

"What is he talking about?" Nightcrawler asked through the earpiece.

"The Bunker, _now!_" Wolverine shouted as he ran off.

"Maria!" He hadn't seen this coming, that G.U.N might know where the Bunker was and go for it. They were definitely assuming that Maria was there, but they were right. And if they got her, he'd have no choice but to surrender.

He vaguely heard X23 whisper something. "Roxas..."

* * *

**SIX WEEKS! That's how long this chapter took. SIX. BLOODY. WEEKS.**

**And now, finally done. -phew-**

**And up next, Roxas FINALLY gets a Keyblade! Time to get to that!**


	12. Chapter Twelve

Roxas sat next to some other students in a row of seats. The Bunker, they called it. It was the length of a bus, by his estimate, and three times as wide at least, with rows of seats along the length of three walls, the fourth wall being a window of two foot thick glass, and a dozen rows that ran from side to side in the middle. This size was meant to accommodate a larger number of people than were present, meaning many of the seats were empty. The row Roxas was in, fourth from the front, allowed a view past the three empty rows in front and through the glass window into the pitch black tunnel they would be shooting down if worse came to worst.

They had all been in here for...what, close to a day now? He looked at his watch. Yep, twenty four hours, since five minutes and forty seven seconds ago.

He knew what was going on; the school was going to be attacked, if it hadn't been already, and he had volunteered to help, but—and this was what had him so fidgety—they said he wasn't trained for this. But he was. He had no idea how or why, but he knew he was, in fact, trained. He knew he could help. _But_, he had reasoned at the time, _what proof do I have?_ None was the answer. Not to mention his mediocre physique counted against that argument.

So here he sat, with every other student.

He looked around the bunker for the umpteenth time. Quite a few of the others were asleep, the rest muttering casually or conspiratorially amongst themselves. He spotted Maria—the human that was with the two mutants—, who was sitting alongside a bedridden Crona. Crona had been screaming on and off for most of the first fourteen hours they had been in here, the rest of the time looking out into nothing with a blank stare. Maria was doing quite a bit of work as far as calming her went, but it seemed the Professor was doing his fair share as well, straining himself to quiet whatever was flashing through her head.

One of the students next to him leaned over. "Hey, what do you think is taking so long?"

Roxas sighed through his nose to prevent a sound of disgust getting through his lips. Seriously, how should he know? "No idea." He said instead.

There was a rumble from outside. Roxas' eyes went wide. There was a light from outside the window. The other students in the back looked around, as if trying to see the source of the disturbance, but the rest that were up front or in the side rows saw where it came from as well.

"No..." Roxas heard the Professor's voice over the din of confusion. "How could I have not seen this?"

The tunnel outside suddenly filled with light, blinding everyone for a moment while their retina adjusted. Once they could see again, they were greeted with the image of masked men running down the tunnel toward the Bunker at alarming speed.

"Everyone, out of your seats! " The Professor put his index and middle fingers to his temples for a moment, before un-strapping himself. There was a mad scramble as the students tried frantically to get out of their seats, cries of terror filling the air. Roxas got out of his seat with a little less panic, but was lost in the confusion along with everyone else nonetheless.

There was a sound just outside the window as the masked men reached the Bunker and began scaling it somehow. There were screams as they reached the window and began their attempts to break in, first with their swords and then with brute force.

"Everyone stay calm!" The Professor's words went unheeded. The door had opened, and everyone was desperate to get out.

Roxas looked back from the crowd at the window. It was holding, but—

_They'll probably have something with them to take care of that._ Roxas' thoughts paused a moment as he considered how, exactly, he figured that...

There was a movement outside that caught his eye. They were applying something to the window; it was a dull cream in colour and pliable from how they were handling it.

_Oh, snap..._ Roxas recognised it from the TV shows he'd been watching. _C4!_

Their was a skull splitting _bang_ as the glass shattered, sending fragments into the Bunker's interior and knocking everyone to the floor. Roxas, still facing the window, brought his arms up in time to shield his eyes from whatever pieces of glass might reach him. He brought his arms back down and looked across to where the window was a moment ago, finding his vision slightly blurred and his ears ringing. After a moment, his vision cleared, and he saw the masked men were climbing in and drawing their weapons.

"Maria Robotnik!" The man who spoke sounded like one of those zombies from the late night movies. "Surrender yourself, and these shall be spared!"

Roxas looked around the crowd. Maria wasn't in the mush of panicked bodies that was slowly squeezing out the exit. He spotted her at last outside the group with another student, both of them trying to carry Crona, who was screaming her head off again.

The masked men must have spotted her too, because they stormed forward and grabbed her by the back of the neck, hauling her away.

"_No!_" Roxas leapt to his feet and tackled the man holding her. The man let out a surprised grunt, but otherwise was mute. He kicked Roxas off and drew his sword.

Roxas scrambled to his feet and dived out of range of the blade. The masked man gave chase, swinging with increased caution as Roxas dodged every swipe and stab. Roxas gasped as he spotted one of the other masked men grab Maria again, and another grab Crona.

He couldn't pull another tackle, not with this guy pestering him. And he couldn't keep dodging forever, even if he didn't have a pressing matter being dragged out the window.

_I need something to fight back wi—_arrgh!

The masked man cut across his thigh. The wound, Roxas knew—somehow—was probably not as bad as it felt, but he was still dead if he didn't pull an ace right now. The man stepped forward for the coup de grace.

_Come on, Sora. I thought _you_ were stronger than that._

The sound of metal hitting metal shocked both combatants. Both recoiled and stared at the new weapon, the men dragging Maria and Crona as well. The object was thin, surprisingly light for the amount of material it included and...

...black. Ink black, so much so it almost _drained_ light.

"Help!" Maria cried.

Roxas snapped to attention. The masked men were standing on defence, unsure of what else he might pull. Roxas took this as an advantage. He leapt to his feet once more and crouched low, dominant foot back, back leaning forward, Keyblade held back and angled away in preparation for delivering a powerful strike.

_Wait...Keyblade?_

The masked man attacked again, this time with a new approach; sword against sword techniques, grapples mostly. Roxas gave ground, backing toward the window. Maria and Crona had just been hauled out, and Roxas was not letting them go that easy. If they got down into the tunnel as he suspected they did, then he might have a trick to pull.

He jumped out the window, being met with a hard landing—he wasn't up to full combat just yet, though that wasn't necessary for now—and limped for a few metres before regaining his gait. The masked man followed quickly, trying again to catch him in a bind. Roxas manoeuvred around to catch a look at the hole in the roof of the tunnel. Just as he thought; rappel lines. Ones that they were just finishing attaching Maria to.

He had to act quick, before she was too far off the ground. He dodged around the masked man, making a break further down the tunnel. The man was fast on his heels, but he only needed a moment. He took a few short steps to gain momentum, before two long, spinning strides and then—

The man caught up and tackled him. One all, on that score. He was pinned, the sound of a knife being drawn signalling his doom.

"_Maria!_"

Maria's name was screamed loud enough to bring hands to ears. The man atop Roxas scrambled to his feet, apparently forgetting about him entirely. Roxas turned over to see what was going on, and saw X23, Mister Logan, and that 'Shadow' person charging forward. Roxas only now realised X23's capability for intimidation...

The masked man ran away to the rappel lines, regrouping with the rest. "X-Men! Stand down or the girl dies!"

All three of the advancing mutants stopped. They looked conflicted in different ways, Shadow the most. Roxas looked back at the rappel lines. The rate at which Maria was being risen had slowed to a crawl. She was about halfway up, almost to the point where she would be too high up. He had to act fast. He stood, resuming his initial stance when he had first gotten the Keyblade again.

"What is that?"

Roxas ignored Mister Logan's question. There wasn't time to explain, and he didn't have an explanation anyway. He took small steps like before...

"Where did you get that sword?"

Spun...

"Roxas, what are you doing?"

And sliced the air in front of him.

There was a flash, before a lightning quick line of light sped up to the rappel lines. The was a slicing sound, and then everything was still—but it only seemed that way, because everyone was too stunned to do anything for several seconds.

"Roxas..." X23 spoke as if disarming a bomb. "What was that?"

The rappel lines suddenly came apart, severing into two. Maria screamed in terror as she plummeted.

"Maria!" Shadow sped forward at an honestly startling speed. He leapt into the air to catch Maria a few metres above the ground.

_Never mind that you're now in the middle of that entire group of masked guys..._ Roxas pushed his thoughts aside, taking to action instead. He ran toward the group of masked men. X23 followed, concerned for his safety no doubt, and then Mister Logan followed her. Roxas decided that another one of those air-slashy things, see if he could thin the ranks a little.

"Shadow, _duck_!" He shouted, hoping he would; he couldn't see well in this light, or lack thereof. He spun again and swiped in front of himself, sending another flash of light out from the blade. The masked men seemed to freeze for a moment, before collapsing in a bloody heap.

_That'll do it._

Shadow looked more suspicious than stunned, but wasted no time in getting Maria to safety. He ran past them and to the Bunker, jumping up to the window—a good three metres—and handing her to an awaiting Scott, who was holding back.

"What's he doing?" Roxas asked, needing to shout.

"What are _you_ doing?" X23 shouted back. "Get out of here!"

"I can help!" He protested, but was grabbed by the back of the neck suddenly and hauled back toward the bunker. The ensuing metres-high leap gave away who it was. "Get _off_!"

"Don't move." There was ice in Shadow's voice. Roxas had to fight an urge to snap at him, but other than that, he simply pouted as Shadow lapt back into the fray.

After a moment, he picked up the sound of whispering. He looked around and saw Maria and Professor Xavier tending to Crona. The Professor wore a face of relief, while Maria stroked one of Crona's hands. Maria looked up and saw him. She motioned for him to come over.

"That was really brave." Maria said when he sat down opposite her. "But you did just scare your friends."

The Professor wheeled himself backward. "Excuse me." He said, before moving off to the window. Roxas nodded before returning his attention to Maria. He noticed Maria was shaking.

"You look pretty scared yourself."

Her expression faltered for a moment. "Th—they almost took me."

"Who are they?" Roxas asked. He had gotten the name, G.U.N, but he didn't know anything else. "What do they want?"

Maria looked down. She closed her eyes and breathed deeply. "Guardian Units of the Nation. They're a military branch. Beyond top secret. They've been around since the Cold War."

"What's the Cold War?" Roxas had come across a few mentions of it in his history books, but little else beyond that.

"It was an ongoing state of tension between America and Russia. There was a lot of covert operations and espionage. G.U.N was set up during that time."

Roxas gave a nod. "So what do they want?"

"Well, the same thing as they always have." Maria had relaxed into the conversation. "To ensure the continuation of the United States. Now days, it includes some other nations, hence their name, but America and its interests are the bottom line." She looked out the destroyed window. "And the existence of mutants as a free species runs contrary to that."

"How so?" As for as he knew, people were just afraid of mutants because their powers were either destructive or hard to trace.

"Like attracts like. The mutants would eventually band together and stand outside human influence and control. They suspect mutantkind would take over, either by force or subterfuge. Their long term fear, on the...other hand..." Maria suddenly went quiet, tilting her head down.

"Maria?" Roxas leant forward to see her face. She was beginning to tremble. He sat back quickly, taking the cue to change the subject. "Uh, I...um...I can't remember anything."

Maria looked up, her eyes watery. "What?"

"I don't know where I came from." He clarified.

She stared at him for a moment. "You mean, amnesia?"

"Yeah, that's it." He said, clicking his fingers. "The Professor scanned my mind and said he couldn't find anything."

Maria snorted before bursting into a fit of chuckles.

"What's so funny?" Roxas asked, confused. He face-palmed as his words caught up with him. "I _meant_, he can't find any memories."

Maria giggled for a bit longer, enjoying the first laugh she'd had in a while no doubt. "What about a trace?"

Roxas interest was perked. "A trace?" He asked.

"Yes, a trace. You know, from whatever wiped your memory?"

Roxas lost his earnest grin and smiled politely. For someone without a heart, he felt his blood freeze well enough; The Professor had left something out. How _dare _he? "Not that he's told me." He said, masking his suspicion and indignation. "What is it, anyway?"

"Don't you know?"

"Well, no. Could you tell me?"

"Sure." She sat a little straighter, clearing her throat. "Telepathy works outside conventional physics, that is, physics as we understand it; it acts as a literal 'sixth sense', one that 'feels' and 'hears'. This is what is known as sensing."

Roxas nodded. Sensing what someone else was going to do, say, or whatever, wasn't unheard of.

"Even after all scientific studies and research by Telepaths, both sides still conclude that telepathy relies on something that science is yet unable to detect, let alone explain. Despite this, there have been some milestones reached in the area of thought and memory transfer, most notably, artificial mental communication, telepath resistant materials and devices, and memory creation and erasure."

Roxas decided to let curiosity take him off subject a moment. "What are those first two?"

"Mental communication and telepathy resistance? Artificial mental communication is just cybernetic implants that translate thoughts into data, before sending through a radio or other communications link and translating them back again. Telepathy resistance however is something more complex; most materials are either extremely resistant to any sort of fabrication technologies or too delicate to use. One material, the best, ironically, only moved a few inches, even went put under extreme heat, weight, magnetic pull and push, telekinetic force, and even gravimetric force. All at the same time!"

Roxas raised his eyebrows, genuinely impressed. That was quite a list of powerful forces at work.

Maria continued. "Technology that prevents telepathic activity or access, on the other hand, is more intrusive; it requires either delicate or bulky equipment be worn or kept within a close range of proximity. Head gear is typically heavy and large, backpacks are impractical, and mobile devices are tedious to transport and maintain.

"The creation and erasure of memories, getting back to your original question, is a more blunt practice. Typically, it involves either the numbing, scarring of the hippocampus, or the insertion of nanotechnology into the brain. Or at least, that's what I know." She finished sheepishly. "I'm not a scientist"

And yet, she'd just gone through a full blown lecture. "Well , you sure know a lot anyway. You're actually really smart."

"Thanks." She said.

"What about the trace you mentioned?"

"Oh, I forgot." Maria said with a laugh. "Like I said, it involves tampering with the brain. Regardless of what means are used, the loss information is unnatural. Regardless of whether the information is still within the brain or completely removed, the brain reacts to the outside influence. It's impossible to avoid it."

"So why didn't he say anything?" Roxas wondered aloud.

"Roxas?" Maria asked. It suddenly occurred to Roxas that he might have just given away his suspicion of the Professor.

"Who didn't say anything about what?"

He turned around at the voice. It was Mr. Summers and Miss Grey, moving to stand on either side of him, and directly behind him was Professor Xavier, who was stern faced.

"Professor." He greeted flatly, not bothering to cover up what he and Maria had been discussing. "How is everyone else?"

"Fine." He said evenly. "G.U.N has left."

Roxas noted X23, Mister Logan, and Shadow jumping up through the window. "Were there any casualties?"

"Perhaps we will discuss that later." The Professor replied. "We have some questions we need you to answer."

"Like the ones you asked when I first got here?" Roxas' demanded. "Or is this more an interrogation?"

"That is enough, young man." Xavier ordered.

Roxas complied.

X23 stood outside the group, Mister Logan standing beside Mister Summers. Shadow circled around to stand behind and to the side of Maria.

"Maria," Shadow began, speaking as if in a tense situation. "Take Crona and go outside."

"I'm staying."

"No you're not, and that is final."

"I am _not_ leaving, Shadow." She said forcefully. "You're all against him, and he needs someone on his side."

"There aren't any sides on this—." Professor Xavier started.

"Then why the circle?" Roxas and Maria asked together.

"Enough." Shadow said curtly. "Who are you?" He demanded.

Roxas turned around to him. "What?"

"Who are you?"

Roxas sat staring defiantly.

"Answer the question." Shadow said, un-wavered.

"Roxas." He said. He looked to X23. Her face was blank. Not a good sign, he had learnt.

"Who are you?" Shadow demanded again. What was he on about?

"I just told y—."

"Who are you?" He demanded again.

"I just told you!" Roxas bit his lip as soon as the words were out. He shouldn't snap, not in this situation. However, Shadow did change his question.

"What is that?" He said in the same demanding tone, gesturing to the Keyblade. Roxas opened his mouth to answer, but...he didn't have one. "I...uh..."

"Answer the question."

"I don't know what it is."

"What is it?"

What was wrong with this guys hearing? "What is going on?!" He turned to the Professor. "Why is he asking m—."

"Roxas." Xavier said, grabbing his attention. "You and X23 discussed something called a 'key-blade', correct?"

Roxas' thought back. He had talked to her, and had...remembered...what was it? He struggled to remember. His head hurt...

:Those aren't yours! Stop!:

_What?_

Before he could think of the voice in his head, it came to him; the Keyblade, weapon of the Keyblade bearer.

Before he could say so, his mind exploded into flashes of images, sensations. His screamed and clutched his head. Several moments passed as the pain slowly died down.

:He needs those. Give them back!:

_Shut up! Get out of my mind!_

:Where are you?:

_Who are you?!_

:You need to come to us!:

The pain suddenly stopped. He felt his mind being...he couldn't put his finger on it but he had felt it before. Xavier!

He sat up quickly, trying to get his bearings. He saw everyone standing in combat stances, Maria being held behind Shadow, and Xavier had backed off a metre or so.

"Get out of my head, dammit!" Roxas shouted at the telepath. He felt the presence fade from his mind, but felt that he had made a mistake in shouting like that; Xavier had taken on a very displeased look.

"It's a Keyblade." He said clearly, breaking the tense silence. Yes. He knew what it was now.

"I've never heard of a Keyblade..." Shadow said to himself, relaxing slightly. "Who gave it to you?" He had gone back to the demanding tone.

"Shadow, that will do." Xavier said softly, despite the earlier outburst. "Roxas, that Keyblade, as you call it, literally came out of nowhere. Shadow informed me that there are experiments into technologies of that nature."

"And we weren't told...why?" Mister Logan sounded offended.

"It's not ready for field application." Shadow said bluntly.

"Then your concern is?" The Professor said.

"My concern is that he may be a spy."

"Preposterous. He has no mem—."

"No memories." Shadow interrupted, finishing the sentence. "Another experimental avenue of G.U.N's R and D." He turned looked down at Roxas. "How did you get here?"

"I—."

"Who are you?"

"I'm—."

"Where did you get that."

"Shadow, that is _enough_." Professor Xavier said forcefully. "Logan, Scott, Jean; take Roxas to his room. He stays there until further notice."

"I'm not done with h—."

"Yes you are!"

Everyone took a step back at Professor Xavier's shout. Shadow looked adequately routed.

"He's a threat." Shadow tried one more time. There was an 'a-hem' from outside the group; Maria getting everyone's attention.

"He saved my life. And Crona's as well. We can trust him."

"Thanks." Roxas whispered.

"Thank you, Maria." Professor Xavier said with a bow of his head. "Now, Logan."

Mister Logan followed the cue, and took Roxas by the arm, helping him to his feet and leading out of the Bunker.

* * *

Roxas was congratulated here and there by the other boys when he reached the lower levels boys dormitory. They were all amazed by what happened, interpreting it as his 'mutation', his materialising a sword out of thin air. Mister Logan and Miss Grey were fine to leave them with that belief. Scott had gone off to make sure everyone knew to go along with this, as well.

"Are you guys mad at me?" Roxas whispered when they reached his temporary room.

"No. Just suspicious." Mister Logan answered flatly. "Honestly, we have been from the beginning."

Roxas felt a sting in his chest. It was faint, distant almost. "Not that I blame you, but; ouch." He said, voicing the disappointment. "Does it have to do with my amnesia?"

"Partly." Jean explained. "There were inconsistencies with your amnesia, and the fact you can consistently spot X23 when no one else can."

Roxas turned around. "Inconsistencies like how he found no traces?"

Miss Grey stared in surprise at him for a moment. "How did you find out?"

_You just told me, _is what he thought, and smugly, but instead he said, "Suspicion. And Maria; she knows a few things."

"If you want to know, you should ask the Professor." Mister Logan said gruffly and finally.

There was a moment of silence. "Maybe we should call it a night." Miss Grey stepped toward the door, giving a signal for Mister Logan to do the same.

"Get some sleep." Mister Logan said as he left the room. "And kid?"

Roxas looked up at him.

"Well done."

Mister Logan closed the door, leaving Roxas alone with his thoughts.

He sat on the bed, his face souring at the lack of comfort it provided. He leaned forward and rested on his knees, his head in his hands. He was a little...well, angry. He was surprised when he realised it, but quickly put that aside, because he was confused to. He hadn't let on, for fear of further questions, but now that he was alone, he could be honest. He had no idea what that..._thing_ was beyond it being called a Keyblade and belonging to a Keyblade Bearer. He knew there was more to it than that, something _really_ important, but...

He sighed. He decided to ignore the horrible quality of the bed and lay down to rest. He looked at his hands, studying them as if there were a riddle in the lines of his palms. How had he done that, summoned it? Oh, so he 'summoned' it now, did he? This just got better by the minute.

The was a sting in his head, only briefly. Knowing how that would end, he decided to stop thinking about that. He flexed his fingers, noticing they were sore. Now that he thought about it, most of his muscles were. Too bad X23 wouldn't be taking that into account next time they talked. She had to be fuming enough to turn a room into a sauna. Well, fair enough. Looking back he could see how stupid what he did was.

_What was that line again...? Hindsight is always twenty-twenty._

Oh, and there was also the fact he yelled at the Professor, and had referred to him as 'Xavier'. He'd no doubt get an earful for that. It crossed his mind that he may be required to submit to another of the Professor's scans. Well, at least this time Roxas knew to ask an extra question. Two, actually; what's different from last time, and why the Professor didn't tell him everything about the first time.

He yawned. He felt his eyes getting heavy.

_Might as well..._

His conscious self switched off and his mind ran to dreams.

:This will only end in sadness. I'm sorry:

* * *

"Your suspicions against Roxas aside, did our defence of our school satisfy your standards?"

Shadow stood in front of the Professor's desk, the one in his temporary office in the lower levels. Maria was standing beside him, tapping her foot impatiently. The Professor himself was behind his desk, looking through a few insurance papers.

"Yes, you did." Shadow said neutrally. "My...sympathies for the wounded."

Xavier contemptibly thought that this was for Maria's benefit, but said, "Thank you," regardless.

Shadow nodded before continuing. "Despite your having male and female dormitories, may Maria and I share a room?"

"Yes." Xavier agreed. Jean might bring up the subject of a precedent, but it was a unique matter with these two. "And I notice you do not mention Crona?"

Shadow's eyes wavered for a moment. "That is another thing; Crona will, for the safety of your students and her own health, need to be kept somewhere secure." He looked down at Maria. "She and Maria will need some help with recent events. And some other things."

Maria sadly hugged Shadow's arm. "Can Shadow be with me?"

Xavier looked at her sympathetically. "It would be better if you faced some of your past alone."

"I agree." Shadow said, putting an arm over Maria. "But if you really want me there..."

There was a moment of silence as everyone let the moment be. There was a knock at the door, bringing all in the room back to the present.

"Enter," Xavier called. The door opened to Logan, who stepped in and closed the door behind him. "Logan, hello." Xavier greeted. "How is everyone?"

"Bandaged up or in bed." He stood next to the desk. "Roxas is in the last room in the temporary dormitories. Scott and I will be keeping an eye on him."

Xavier just nodded. It was grim, having to practically jail a student, but there was no other option, logically. "I'll tell the other students to keep their distance myself. And also to keep a respectful distance from Maria."

"That's not..." Maria began, but her voice faltered.

"I think it would be best if he did." Said Logan, surprisingly. "I don't know what you two have been through, and I haven't a right to ask," He paused, allowing for a response, but only got a nod from Shadow, "But the other kids, especially those who mean well, might not see anything wrong with it."

There was a moment as Logan's words sank in, before Xavier finished, "You shouldn't talk about your past to anyone other than myself and Shadow until you are ready. And that may take a long time."

Maria said nothing. Only a nod.

Shadow stroked her hair, looking down sympathetically. Xavier squinted and rubbed his eyes, feeling fatigue close in more viciously. "Logan, show Shadow and Maria to their new room."

Maria looked up, a light visible in her eyes from behind her blond hair. Xavier couldn't help but find it precious, this girl with her hair a mess over her eyes, haloing them. He watched as she and Shadow were led out by the older man, the door closing behind them.

He had a lot of work ahead of him. But with time, he was sure, they would all come around. Crona would come back to sanity, despite the parasite that in her blood. Maria would heal. And Shadow...he had potential. He couldn't put the words any other way, but it was there. He had _that_ quality, something he had seen before in only one other. The ability, the _will_, to change the world. Maria gave him something to protect. He need only build on that.

Xavier frowned.

Roxas.

There were a lot of questions to ask, for both Roxas and himself. He had heard some of what was going through the young man's mind, admittedly because he was listening in, and had seen some odd things. For starters, there was a flash that that black 'Keyblade', as it was called, wasn't the only one in Roxas' possession.

_Bah,_ Xavier thought, _enough for the day._

He switched off the lights and left his office, seeking the comfort of sleep.

* * *

**Well, this breaks my four week deadline. Writers block stops for no-one, I guess. At least I've had a break through recently, and am back on track. It's going to be back to the peaceful stuff for a while, and then we get to the 'all-hell-breaks-lose' stuff. But till then, character development is the key factor of the next few chapters (though a certain armored mutant will be making an appearance).**


	13. Chapter Thirteen

Roxas sat by himself behind a small desk, fidgeting with the scraps of his breakfast. Everyone else was upstairs, so to speak, in the mansion. He didn't envy them the job of cleaning up, but he'd rather that over this; waiting while the Professor prepared an explanation, one that would paint his omitting of details in the best light, no doubt.

He gave a snort. It felt familiar, this situation, but this, he felt, was a good thing; it meant he was not gullible. He wouldn't fall for any half truths or omitted details this time.

He stopped fidgeting and leant back in the chair, gazing up at the ceiling. He figure he should get some answers ready himself. First, the Keyblade; he didn't know what it was, beyond its name and general description; being wielded by a Keyblade Wielder. Obviously, he was one such individual. He didn't know what he used it for, beyond the obvious self defence application. That was all he could think of on that subject, but he couldn't say whether Professor Xavier would ask anything else or not.

Next, what else has he remembered; not much that he can call to mind; likely just how to use his Keyblade, and a trivial memory or two. For instance, he had an inexplicable craving for ice-cream.

Third—and this had been brought up recently and urgently earlier in the morning—where was the Keyblade now? Apparently, it had disappeared sometime at night when everyone was asleep. Unfortunately, there was no-one watching it or any camera surveillance, so they didn't have a clue. Logically, the finger was pointed at him, but he had no idea what happened to it, and Mister Summers had guaranteed that he hadn't left his room. Still, they wanted answers, and Roxas himself wanted to try and remember something further. That would require the Professor's help, so it would be done during the scan if all went well.

And lastly, there were some things to be discussed concerning Maria and that other guy, Shadow; Roxas' lip curled when he thought of him. It wasn't anything personal, but something about Shadow just set him off. Well, maybe it was personal then.

At any rate, he had his answers that he would stick to. There was a sound from behind the door that told him it was time to see how they would do.

Professor Xavier motored in, a folder in his lap. He didn't look at Roxas, only glancing up at the desk when he got to it. He set the folder on the table and looked Roxas in the eye.

The following silence was both tense and awkward, at least for Roxas. Usually, in the TV shows, there are some questions asked, not this weird silent thing. Was the Professor waiting for something from him?

"How's the clean up going?" He tried.

"Slowly. There are a number of things we can't touch until the insurance company performs an inspection." The Professor's voice was plain, carrying no tension or caution. Perhaps he was simply studying him, seeing what how he behaved in this sort of confrontation? _Or..._

"Are you reading my mind?" He couldn't feel anything to suggest it, but then he was no expert on telepathy.

The Professor seemed to hold back a smile that tugged at the corners of his mouth. "No, and I am getting weary of being accused of doing so." He opened the folder, picking three pages out before closing the folder again and putting the pages on top. "How are you feeling?"

"Sore." Roxas answered. He'd underestimated how unused to combat his body had become. His ankles were painful to step on, his hands were stiff and throbbing, his legs as well. And his back... "Could I get an aspirin once this is over?"

"You may, though I am sure X23 will have little sympathy. Logan, on the other hand, seems to have gained some respect for you."

Roxas smiled sheepishly at the mention of X23's intentions. "I thought Mister Logan was suspicious of me? He said you all are."

"We are," Xavier explained, "But I think recent events have put it out of context."

Roxas tilted his head to one side; he didn't expect the start ofProfessor's explanation to sound like this.

The Professor continued, "As you know, we don't trust you, but not only because we think you are dangerous to us, but to yourself as well. As you displayed last night, you have a trick or two up your sleeve, and you may have more for all we know. If you were in our position, what would you do?"

Damn him. That was reasoning he couldn't argue. Anyway, Roxas anger subsided, seeing the other side of the argument. He nodded to show his understanding.

Xavier seemed relieved at this, taking a breath. He took the pages in hand and turned them around, putting them in front of Roxas.

"Look at these please." The Professor said.

Roxas looked as asked. The left picture caught his attention; it was a photograph of the Keyblade. From the crappy quality, it was probably taken with that antique that he saw in the Professor's top office.

Looking on from that to the next picture, the centre one, he noted it was a trio of symbols: one of a skull with six hooks coming out of it, inside a circle. The second was another circle, with three points, another red circle inside that, which was separated into thirds, and inside that, a 'G'. The third symbol was a falcon and a shield.

The right picture was a picture of a drawing. Just two combatants using swords.

He sat back again, looking up at the Professor. "What are these two?" He asked, gesturing to the three symbols and fighting picture.

"Do they mean anything to you?" The older man replied.

Roxas looked at them again. He understood the question, but he wanted to make sure he gave an honest answer. "No." He said after a moment.

The Professor sat back and steepled his fingers in front of his face. The next dozen seconds were silent as the two regarded each other.

Finally, the Professor broke the silence, saying "How did you make the Keyblade materialise?"

Roxas shrugged. "I'm not sure. I've tried to again a few times this morning, but I can't."

The Professor cocked an eyebrow. "Well, I can't see how you would be lying. Still, I would very much like to know more about that weapon."

"Curious?" Roxas inquired with a tilt of his head.

"Very, but only because it might have a catch. I trust you can understand my concern?"

Roxas gave a nod.

"Good. We'll talk more about the Keyblade later then." He picked up the page with the three symbols on it. "Now, these; you don't recognise them at all?"

Roxas shook his head.

Xavier turned the picture to him. "These are the logo's of S.H.I.E.L.D, Hydra, and G.U.N." He explained, pointing at each symbol in turn. "I must admit, showing you these was a futile test, but I had to be sure."

"Sure of what?" Roxas asked.

"That you had no familiarity of or with them. Though, as I just said, given the nature of your amnesia, such a thing was futile to try."

"About that;" Roxas began, folding his arms in front of himself, "What _is_ the nature of my amnesia?"

The Professor took a deep breath. "Yes...I should have told you this when I first examined you, and for that, I am sorry. It was a betrayal of your confidence." Suddenly, he could not look Roxas in the eye. "I asked Maria already of what you spoke about. To answer what is obviously your first question; there was no trace in your mind. Whatever means were used to erase you memories, it is something I have never before seen or dealt with."

"Then how do you know I didn't just forget?" Roxas furrowed his eyebrows. "How can you tell they were erased?"

"Well, 'just forgetting' doesn't cover everything you are and know." Professor Xavier said with a smirk, still not looking at Roxas. "Though something about this is similar. It's like..." He trailed of, working his lower lip. He looked to be still trying to wrap his own head around whatever happened to Roxas' memories. "It's as if...someone has found a means of using the brain to erase itself."

Roxas thought back to last night. "The natural forgetting process?"

"You've know what it is?"

"Not really. Maria mentioned it."

The Professor nodded. "I see. Well, whatever was used or done to your memories, it must have used the forgetting process to erase them. Except they aren't dormant, like is sometimes the case with forgetting."

"So, someone _made_ me forget? Literally?"

"Yes."

Roxas was silent as he processed what had been said. "So...any idea who did it?"

The Professor looked up at him. "That is actually why I wanted to perform another scan; when you were experiencing your last episode, I prodded your mind. As you know, I did so until your mental fit ended and you were aware enough to feel my interference. During those few moments, I heard someone...a young woman, I think."

Roxas thought back. The voice... "Those aren't yours..." He repeated.

Xavier nodded. "Yes, her. I could feel her, but there were no thoughts along with her presence. Anything I did hear was incomprehensible at best, except for the first sentence she spoke." Xavier had resumed his steepled posture. "Did you understand anything she said?"

"She asked where I was." He explained, thinking back to when he heard the voice. "She also said I had to 'come back to them', so I think she knows where I came from."

Xavier nodded, agreeing with Roxas desire to get some answers. "Although, those words are of concern; come back to _us_. Perhaps there is some credence to Shadow's suspicions on this."

Roxas lips thinned at the thought of Shadow being right. Regardless, Roxas had a suspicion of his own; that it wasn't an organisation that was after him, or at least not one like everyone here understood it. He felt, it was only a few people.

_ Maybe because there are only a few left...?_

Anyway, he had a lead to follow. He just needed a means of following it.

"Do you think you might be able to find her if you scan me?"

The Professor shrugged his hands. "Worth a try. Is there anything else you wanted to discuss before we commence?"

Roxas glanced up at the ceiling, the general direction of where everyone else was. "What are their powers?"

"I don't understand."

"Shadow and Crona."

Xavier was quiet as he evaluated Roxas. Finally, he said, "I don't know."

Roxas was taken aback. "You don't—what do you mean? What was that green flash then?" Was the Professor lying again? "What is his power?"

"He doesn't have only one." Xavier blurted.

Roxas was taken aback again. "What do you mean?"

The Professor sighed and rubbed his lower lip. "There are cases—exceedingly _rare_ cases—where an individual is born with more than one ability or power. Also, there are experiments performed on mutants that produce the same result. Whether the former, the latter, or both, I cannot say. But he has revealed three thus far." His head lowered a degree and his voice dropped an octave. "He may very well have more..."

Roxas got the feeling that he wasn't the only one who wasn't trusted... "And Crona?"

"She hasn't displayed any clear mutations, and she is in no condition to be asked."

Roxas recalled her comatose behaviour. "That's all I wanted to know." He said.

Xavier sat up straight, looking Roxas in the eye again. "Shall we begin?"

Roxas gave a nod and leaned forward as the Professor put his hands at either side of his head.

_Much like the first time, it started with his awareness of the world around him fading into a sort of black-and-white movie._

_ Roxas felt and saw memories come to mind. Some of his classes, some of the fight with the masked men. Other images weren't his. He saw some glimpses of Shadow, Logan, some Egyptian guy, and an old man with bleach-white hair and some metal swinging around him. Moving further, he came to the voice from the previous night._

_ "Now, Roxas," Xavier spoke into his thoughts, "Try to find the voice."_

_ He tried, listening for another voice inside his subconscious. He could hear some sounds, waves and laughter, along with chatter. With Xavier's help, he pushed further, down to the very core of his psyche._

_ "If there is a link between you mind and another, one that could be used to wipe your memories and then monitor you afterward, this is where we will find it."_

_ "Is it dangerous to be down this far?" Roxas asked. He could feel each thought forming down here, then build into the questions he asked, all in a split second. "Won't we, like...corrupt or damage something?"_

_ "You've been watching too much television." Xavier said flatly, though there was a smile somewhere in his voice. "The subconscious isn't as sensitive as the operating system of a computer. It isn't even the same thing; entirely different base principle."_

_ Suddenly, there it was: a small mass of mental energies. Roxas mind interpreted it as a rippling pool that lightly glowed._

_ "Yes, this is the link, but it is too weak to be used across long distances..." Xavier trailed off into thought, which came though to Roxas as barely audible murmurs._

_ "Too weak?" Roxas whispered to himself. From what Maria had told him, he figured that this telepathy stuff worked a lot like radio. Which would explain what the Professor had just said. Something was off about this. "Too weak..." He repeated._

_ "What is maintaining this?" Xavier whispered._

_ "Is there someone at the school who could be doing this?"_

_ "No. Something of this subtlety requires skill to construct and proximity to maintain."_

_ But what was maintaining it? Roxas thought maybe it could be a signal booster, or whatever the telepathic equivalent was, but quickly dismissed the idea. The Professor would have sensed something like that. But then what else could it—_

_ "Magic." Roxas said suddenly._

_ "What?" Xavier said incredulously._

_ "It's magic." Roxas repeated. "I don't know how I know, but it's magic."_

_ Xavier was silent for a while as he mentally studied Roxas. "I believe you." He said. "Do you know anything else?"_

_ "No. That last thing just came to me."_

_ Xavier brought them away from Roxas subconscious. "Very well. That will do for now."_

_ "Wait!" Roxas objected. "Aren't you going to...I dunno...investigate?"_

_ "If magic is involved as you say, then I will need help. Magic and other supernatural phenomena are not my forte."_

_ "Fine." Roxas sighed. "Let's go."_

Roxas came back to the world with a bleary mind. "This didn't happen last time..." He said groggily.

"We didn't search your mind as thoroughly then." Xavier explained.

Roxas looked at his watch. It was close to one o'clock now. "Can I go help with the clean up?"

"You may. And Roxas,"

Roxas turned to face him.

"Please don't try to make the Keyblade materialise again. Just for the time being."

Roxas gave a nod; now that he thought about it, if he did materialise it, he didn't know how to get rid of it again, and he'd have a difficult situation of where to keep it.

"Good day, Professor."

"Good day, Roxas."

* * *

Anyone who just walked in would call it blatantly unfair: one person cleaning an entire room by himself with just a straw broom and a wheelbarrow.

Shadow had in essence scared everyone else away within the first two hours, his reclusive behaviour and glaring red eyes killing any attempts at conversation. Hell, it killed any attempts to even say 'hi'. In his defence, he was a little hesitant to risk forming any sort of familiarity with anyone here. Not that doing so would hinder an sudden departure, which he hadn't dismissed as an option, but still; better to be safe than sorry.

Oh, but wouldn't Maria have something to say about his behaviour? She'd probably say he should take the initiative, open up a little.

Shadow stopped sweeping and just stood there looking at the ground. He was thinking about how he should pull it together and start putting some effort forth, for Maria's sake. Also, someone was standing in the door, and he hadn't noticed their approach.

"I thought I scared everyone off already." He said by way of greeting. He mentally chided himself; his voice came across as borderline threatening.

"I've seen scarier." Came the light feminine voice. It was Katherine Pryde, aka Shadowcat, aka Kitty. Her mutation, the ability to become intangible or 'phase', meant she could move through a wide variety of solid matter, and had yet to be recorded encountering a resistant substance. Therefore, her limitations were unclear.

Her phasing must be why he didn't notice her.

"I'll bite," He said, inviting further conversation. "What could be scarier than me?"

"Facing down a group of faceless assassins?" She gestured around the room, using the demolition to emphasise her point.

"I've faced worse." Normally, this would be said in a gruff voice of confidence. But since he was monitoring his tone, it came out as matter-of-factly.

"Huh." She stood there looking at him. Evaluating him or checking him out, he couldn't tell. Either way;

"Was there something you wanted?"

She gestured over her shoulder. "S.H.I.E.L.D just got here. The Professor said he'll be up in a moment."

Shadow glanced in the general direction of the lobby. "Thank you." He said.

As Shadowcat left, Shadow was tempted to reach out telepathically and get a glimpse of who was here with Fury, as Xavier and Wolverine were the only two aware of his telepathy outside of G.U.N. However, Director Fury would likely have brought along something to counteract the Professor's telepathy, so that was out of the question. And the Professor himself would likely object to it as well.

Anyway, best not to keep them waiting. He considered trying a few more psychological games with Fury while the Professor took his time getting there, but decided against it; Fury would likely see most of it coming, and so would Xavier. Best to stick with the game he already had going, that is, the illusion that he was buying into Fury's offer. Now also Xavier's.

He left the room, standing the broom in the doorway. Someone would come by to check on the room and finish it. Eventually. He made his way past some other rooms that were being cleaned. He couldn't help but smirk at some of the cliché reactions or fear as he went his way. One group actually started cleaning faster when he peeked in.

Finally reaching the lobby, he found it hadn't been cleaned yet. That might be because the front door is missing entirely. And the windows, as well. Shadow felt a twinge of shame setting in...

Fury was there, standing behind a collapsible table with a briefcase. And his jacket. Did he ever take that off?

Standing behind him in a row were three other men in, two in suits, one in plain clothing. He didn't recognise any of them. The two that were in suits were carrying fold out chairs.

"Good morning, Shadow." Fury greeted. He lifted the briefcase and set it on the table. "Will Professor Xavier be sitting in?"

"He's on his way." Shadow noted that he could feel Fury's mind. Odd. Maybe he trusted Xavier's ethics. Still, the Professor himself would still be aware of any attempts to read the Director's mind.

"How is Maria doing?"

"Well. She's busy cleaning." Shadow's tone and pace got across that he didn't want to discuss her.

Fury nodded and unlocked the briefcase. "Do you want to begin?"

"Might as well." Shadow said nonchalantly. Really, he was on edge, wary of deception and anything else that might be attempted.

The two men in suits stepped forward and put out the chairs. Fury sat, and took a few folders out, setting them to one side of the table. "Good. First things first; you, Maria, and the other girl. Crona, was it?"

Shadow gave a nod. "Yes. Originally, it was I and Maria who were to escape, but Maria seems to have befriended Crona at some point, and so asked me to save her."

"Anything special about her?" Fury was obviously trying to get a background on her. He was going to do the same for Maria and Shadow himself, but that didn't matter; it was trivia.

"I'm still trying to figure that out myself." He said honestly. "From what I can see, she is unconditioned for battle, and has no mutations or physical attributes toward the subject. However, she speaks to herself, and not nonsensically or as if she is in a fantasy; she argues, pleads...actual conversation. At first I thought it was schizophrenia, or some such madness. However, I at one point felt her mind out of curiosity, and found another set of thoughts alongside hers. Synthetic and cold."

"A symbiont?" Fury inquired.

"I suspect it's an A.I."

"An A.I?" Fury sounded incredulous. "Inside her head? Communication links to A.I's or some other external means is more efficient, something that's been tried and tested time and again. Why would G.U.N try something that doesn't work?"

Shadow thought for a moment. "There is a fundamental flaw with the idea behind Weapon-X and Weapon-Y—Weapon-Y being G.U.N's variant of the program. The problem is, much like any soldier may switch sides, so might the Weapon go rogue. There are many reasons why; conscience, wealth, cowardice, love. No matter what, there was nothing stopping the Weapon from betraying it's handlers.

"The initial solution, while practical, was fundamentally flawed as well; leverage. The Weapon would either make a rescue attempt, in the case of a hostage, or try their luck on their own, in the case of finance or criminal records. Several more methods were tried—drugs to sate a genetic need, regular memory erasure, extreme mental conditioning—they all failed."

"And G.U.N found a solution, and then tried it out on her?" Fury asked, catching onto the direction or Shadow's recounting.

Shadow nodded. "Project Yggdrasil. The namesake of Weapon-Y." Shadow gestured to himself. "I'm not the first subject, either; initially, there was Weapon-G, then Z and R. Y is the latest, and most successful. Yggdrasil is meant to be an A.I directly linked to the Weapon. It goes deeper than being implanted in the brain; it consists of a stream of nanites that flow through the cardiovascular system. Not in the blood, but _as_ the blood. Completely replaced. This is the sort of A.I that I suspect is within Crona."

Fury was silent for a moment as he took this in. "And I thought I'd seen and heard everything..." He muttered. "Is there an active link between this Yggdrasil unit and G.U.N?"

"Xavier would know better than me about that: he's been in her mind directly."

Fury glanced down the main hall. "I'll be sure to ask him. Are there any perks to Yggdrasil?"

"Increased metabolism, stamina, oxygen circulation, nutrient intake and waste management, and also some increased healing. The healing, however, is not in the same league as regeneration, or, the healing factor."

"I see." Fury looked back at the hall. "Good morning, Professor. Are you in good health?"

"Good morning. I'm fine. A little wine before bed did me some good." The Professor motored to the corner of the table on Shadow's side. "Good morning Shadow."

"Professor." Shadow greeted back. "Where is he?"

"Roxas? Cleaning with everyone else now." Xavier looked back at Fury. "Did I miss much?"

"Shadow was explaining the Yggdrasil Project. I don't mind if you want him to go through it again."

Xavier waved a hand. "No, no, I'll just ask him later. Please, continue."

Shadow shrugged and did as requested. "Moving on from the pro's and con's, the end result was meant to be that the Yggdrasil unit, often referred to as 'Black Blood', would take total control of the Weapon and take it back to base. In the case of being captured, it can self terminate and take the Weapon with it. The amount of time that Yggdrasil can maintain control was never fully tested."

Both Shadow and Fury waited for Xavier to say something. Xavier himself had gone quiet in thought.

"Can you verify whether or not Crona has one of these?" Fury asked.

"This...Yggdrasil Unit;" He began slowly, "What sort of communication does it work off?"

"As far as I know, just telepathically." Shadow answered.

"I see." Xavier breathed a sigh of relief. He must have been fearful of Crona being controlled by G.U.N. "Yes, Crona does have one of them. Ragnarok is the name by which it identifies itself."

Fury cocked an eyebrow. "Is it hostile?"

"No. Just very rude."

Now Shadow cocked an eyebrow and both he and Fury smirked. "Did he call you bad names?" Shadow jested in a near whisper.

Xavier gave a unappreciative look Shadow's way. "In point of fact, he is vulgar toward most everything, is quite immature, and seems to be as manic as Crona is."

"I take it from your previous reaction," Fury cut in, "That Crona isn't telepathic?"

"No, she is not." He answered. "And from what I can discern, if the individual with one of these Yggdrasil Units is not telepathic, then the communication to the Unit will be difficult, let alone giving orders. So she isn't a threat."

"How do figure that, exactly?" Fury asked, not convinced.

"I can answer that:" Shadow said. "Telepathy is easier between telepaths, and the Yggdrasil Unit works along this. It's like talking to a deaf mute, who then has to tell a blind man what was just said to him; it could work, somehow, but it's practically worthless."

"I see." Fury said. "Okay, thank you. That was very enlightening." He opened one of the folders. "But now, I'd like to get one to some other things." He laid out some pictures. "These aircraft, for starters."

Shadow sighed inwardly as he resigned himself to enduring a _long_ day.

* * *

Roxas stepped into a fairly messy room. There was a broom leaned against the doorway, which he picked up and started to use. He was soon joined by some of his classmates, Kitty, Kurt, and Rogue, who were checking for rooms that hadn't been done yet. Predictably, Roxas had to change the subject several times to get off the previous night; it might lead to questions about the Keyblade or some brain pain.

"Why is every room wrecked so bad?" Rogue exclaimed in exasperation. "Like, were they just being jerks with this, or what?"

"They must have been looking for something." Roxas guessed.

"Yeah, the elevators maybe. Or a list of contacts, or something." Kurt noticed a tipped over grandfather clock. "For real?"

"What do you mean, 'contacts'?" Roxas asked.

"Well, Professor X isn't the only guy who does the kind of stuff he does, see? And they all like to keep in touch a little, and S.H.I.E.L.D checks in on them every so often, or just keeps an eye on them. They're pretty anonymous, and these guys must have been looking for something to help them find them."

Roxas looked at the mess around him. "They want to find mutants that badly?" He whispered.

"It was the elevators." Kitty said, dismissing Kurt's theorising. "The Professor wouldn't be into that sort of stuff; some of those underground guys are pretty shady."

"You mean like the Morlocks?" Came a voice from the doorway. It was X23.

Kurt was gone in a puff of smoke, and Kitty fell through the floor. Rogue was the only one to stand her ground.

"We don't talk about them." She said flatly walking past X23. "I'll leave you two alone."

"Don't concern yourself," X23 said over her shoulder, "Nightcrawler and Shadowcat are just outside."

Rogue stopped short of the exit and looked around the corner. Her face became one of disgust and disbelief.

"I can't believe you two..."

"C'mon, sis, we can't miss this..."

"Like you weren't going to hide with us..."

Ignoring them, X23 approached Roxas, coming to within arm's reach. Roxas took a step back at the sudden proximity.

"Uh..." He said nervously. "I'm...glad to see you're—."

There was a blast of white in his vision as X23's hand connected with his face. Not a closed fist, but a very hard slap in the face.

"You _stupid, brainless, _bastard!" She shouted. "What were you thinking?"

Roxas slowly stood up from the strike. "Oww...mut muz dat for?" He whined.

"You almost getting yourself killed, that's what!"

"I was trying to help..." He protested weakly.

"By nearly getting eviscerated? Great plan!"

X23's sarcasm struck a chord. "I was holding out just fine!" He clenched his fist at his sides, leaning forward into X23's face. "I did half the work for you guys!"

"You..." She bit her lip, fists clenched at her sides so tight they were shaking. "What was that thing, anyway?"

"What?"

"The Keyblade."

Her too? "Really?"

"What?"

"I can't talk about it." He said, not bothering to explain his disappointment.

"Tell me."

"I said..."

"I heard you, and I don't care. Tell me."

Roxas turned his back. "Bite me."

There were gasps from around the corner.

"What did you just...?" X23 began in disbelief.

"What is going on in here?"

Roxas spun around to see Professor Xavier in the door. He figured it was a fair guess the other three were long gone by now.

"Nothing." Roxas answered.

X23 stormed out, leaving an awkward atmosphere.

Xavier scowled. "This 'nothing' that youths get into so often seems to be quite something."

Roxas just looked at the ground.

"Hm. S.H.I.E.L.D has come and gone, so Shadow is free to help with the clean up. He will start in here."

"Shadow?" Roxas seemed caught between on edge and relaxed. He didn't like Shadow much, but he'd be better company than what he'd had recently.

Shadow walked around the corner and stopped, staring at Roxas. Roxas followed his eyes to the broom he was holding.

"Need a broom?" Roxas asked.

Shadow stood staring a moment longer. "I'll use the shovel." He said, dropping the tension.

"Good." Xavier turned and left. "Happy cleaning."

Shadow did as he had said and started shovelling debris into the wheelbarrow. "So," He began, the Professor being far out of earshot, "You think you did half our job?"

Roxas smirked. "I remember making assassin spaghetti while you ducked."

Shadow scoffed. "Don't flatter yourself. You had no idea whether I ducked. You could have killed me and Maria"

"Get real! I _saved_ Maria, twice."

"Yes, only after letting the mutates drag her out the window."

Roxas let the broom drop. "You trying to pick a fight?"

Shadow smiled. "I'd love to, but Xavier's already arranged a time for that."

Roxas grunted in anger. "What is your problem?"

Shadow's face went neutral, staring at Roxas again. "I don't trust you." He said after a while.

"I think they've got jackets." Roxas said, pointing a thumb in the general direction of where the teachers were working.

"No, I don't think so. They think you're like Wolverine was." He gestured to Roxas hand. "But they're missing the point."

Roxas reflexively moved his hand out of sight. "And the point is?"

"You have a sword that appears out of nowhere, you have resurfacing memories of it and who know what else, and some experience in combat going from what Maria tells me." He tilted his head to the side. "You're a sleeper agent."

Roxas didn't say anything. Shadow's mind was obviously made up, so arguing was pointless. "Whatever." He said, picking the broom back up.

"Can you still materialise it?"

"What?" Roxas turned back to Shadow.

"The Keybleade. Can you materialise it again?"

Roxas was speechless for a moment. "Why...what do you care?"

"I'm curious." Shadow said.

Roxas stood regarding Shadow for a while. Finally, arguing to himself that if it disappeared once, it would do it again, Roxas tried to summon his Keyblade. He knew he shouldn't , but Xavier would know Shadow had something to do with him doing it anyway.

He flexed, whipped, twirled, and shook his hand, but nothing happened. "Must be a...snap of the wrist or...something." He muttered between attempts. He wasn't failing entirely; he could feel it, but it was like a sneeze that died before it happened.

Frustrated, Roxas shrugged and looked back at Shadow. "No dice."

Shadow nodded in the general direction of the Bunker. "It must require duress or some other stimuli. Like I said; Xavier's arranged for some sparring later today."

"Between me and you?" Roxas asked, a little enthusiasm creeping into his voice. Shadow picked up on it and smiled.

"Not right away. I look forward to it."

Roxas nodded and got back to cleaning the room, eager for the coming chance to fight.

His smile faltered. Would X23 be getting in on it? If so, would she fight him?

Roxas touched the side of his face. If she did...Roxas decided he was looking forward to that too.

* * *

**Okay, done. Bad news: since it's getting toward the end of the year, I wont be updating for a while (you know, work picking up, possible visits to distant family, all the quintessential stuff). I'll start again maybe mid January. I'll probably have a few chapters done by then, unless work really eats up my time this year.**

**On the chapter;**

**X23 is reacting with anger to her emotional confusion, and is ignorantly chocking it up to anger for Roxas foolishness, something that will come to a head later on. As for Shadow and Roxas, they don't like each other, and Shadow is still very suspicious of him, but they are managing to keep it civil for now.**

**I was hoping to tie an 'oh, crap' moment into this chapter, but I couldn't make it fit. Since there is a long period of no updates from here on, I think it best to mention what it is for the sake of making a cliffhanger of sorts.**

**So, current arcs;**

**Roxas and X23 are heading for a bitter fight.**

**Shadow and Roxas are going to go at it.**

**Roxas will summon the Oblivion for the second time.**

**And the cliffhanger;**

**Something from KH is going to show up.**

**Good luck on your holidays, and farewell for now!**

**(UPDATE: Few things; one, I'll have to do X23 vs Roxas and Shadow vs Roxas in two chapters (bit big to fit in the one chapter without going to twenty+ pages), and since the cliffhanger doesn't show until after Shadow vs Roxas, it's going to be in that latter chapter. Still, both fights are fairly brutal, so bare with me.**

**Two; I've noticed that bit about Shadow letting his telepathy slip to Fury. Honestly, it's more than a tad OoC, but then again, Xavier would not have likely kept it a secret. Still, out of character.**

**Three; Cameo appearance from Avalanche.**

**That's all. Happy end of year.)**


	14. Chapter Fourteen

Roxas fought to hide a smirk as he did the warm-ups Scott was showing him. He felt like he was in some sad Rocky Balboa remake...

Well, that is if Rocky wore a Gi.

Despite Professor Xavier's urges to keep the sparring discreet, everyone had gathered outside the gym, peering in through the glass. The ones inside were Xavier, Scott, Logan, Kitty, Shadow, X23, and Roxas himself. Shadow and Roxas had kept their little arrangement secret, but had managed to convince everyone to let them have a go.

Roxas finished one exercise and switched to another. While transitioning, he caught X23 looking at him. She was fuming a little, and knowing Kurt and Kitty, it was common knowledge by now as to why. X23 looked away and Roxas did the warm up unaffected. They'd sort it out soon enough.

"Okay, alright already." Logan sounded unamused at the display Scott and Roxas were kicking up. Now that Roxas stopped and looked around, he noticed some of the other students had been making fun of his exertions.

Logan beckoned Roxas over to the mat—a six by six metre grouping of several smaller gym mats—and stood him a metre or so in front of Kitty, his opponent.

"Right, since we have no idea what you know, you're going to start with some basics."

Roxas resisted the urge to roll his eyes. He could see where this was going.

"Just simple wrestling. Pin the other guy, keep him there for ten seconds, first to six wins gets the trophy." By 'trophy' Logan meant the winner's cut of any gambled monies by the students, something that went on behind the teachers backs. They'd tried to stop it several times in the past, Roxas was told, but it persisted anyway.

Scott whispered a few words of advice, but Roxas wasn't listening. He was looking at kitty; she had been waving to someone outside when she stepped onto the mat, and was waving again. Roxas looked at the guy in question. He was tallish, brown hair, dark eyes, wore his clothing pretty neatly. Stood with an almost soldier-esque presence. Probably a boyfriend.

Roxas shook his head slightly. _Whatever_, he thought,_ No skin off my nose._

Logan ushered Scott away and raised his arm, ready to give the go. Roxas got his mind into the fight; wrestling. Grab the other person, tip them off balance, put them in a bind or lock, or know their feet out from under them. Whatever gets them to the floor. From there, just plain strength and a little strategy on the side. Simple.

Logan chopped down between them, and they fell into low stances, feet wide, hands shoulder level and open. Roxas charged in, grabbing Kitty's arms. He pushed and pulled, trying to lift off her footing and throw her to the ground.

Roxas gasped in surprise as Kitty did this to him instead.

He was stunned for a moment, Kitty holding him face down with his arm behind his back. He struggled, but it was pointless. Ten slaps on the ground from Scott, and Kitty got up and readied herself for the next round.

Roxas felt a mixture of embarrassment and what closely resembled fury as his face reddened. He got back up and readied again. He'd underestimated Kitty, but he wouldn't do it again. A little brains before brawn was needed here. He charged again, this time grabbing for the cloth of her Gi. He intended to get in close, nullify Kitty's advantage in experience.

Only to be thwarted by her advantage in strength.

Again he was pinned and his pride was bruised. He got back up and readied a third time, blocking out the faint sound of laughter from outside. Stubbornly, Roxas amounted his weakness to his absence from any sort of hard physical exertion. He knew he had taken bigger than her, and refused to think that she was simply stronger than he was.

This time he waited for Kitty to make the first move. She got the hint quickly and grabbed Roxas by the collar, getting in before he could react. He was helpless as he was tossed onto his back. By some miracle, he rolled to the side in time to avoid another pin, forcing Kitty to come after him from another angle. They grappled, Kitty slowly wearing him down and pinning his arms above his head, while Roxas did all he could to stop her from getting atop him to finish the pin.

He struggled and struggled, but to no avail. She was going to win for a third time. Roxas searched in desperation for a way to turn the situation around, finding nothing. Then, suddenly, he noticed Kitty's weight was being put to one side as she tried to finish her pin. If he could just...hit...the inside...of her elbow...

He did. He hit but bringing up a knee and giving it a little tap. She toppled forward with an 'oof!', giving Roxas the break he needed. He scrambled out from under her, Kitty letting go of his hands to push herself up, and he wrapped an arm under and around her shoulder, placing the hand behind her neck. She must have recognised what he was trying, because she started to shake him off. He managed to stay on, barely, but somehow he not only did that, but got his other arm under the other shoulder and got her in the full lock.

They fought for some time, Kitty trying to pry herself loose, Roxas holding on like grim death, but eventually, Roxas got his first victory. He got up, resisting the urge to pump a first.

He wasn't likely to win again, this time being a fluke, but at least his ego was soothed somewhat.

* * *

Humiliation hurt like hell. Kitty six, Roxas one. Not even that one victory could account for how bad he was beaten the next four times. Any hopes of this not being mentioned the next day were so very much in vain.

Kitty had gone off to the side, her boyfriend having been let in, and now as engaged in a round of flirting.

Thankfully, everyone inside largely ignored the sound beating and just got on with the matter at hand.

"You're not overly strong, but you put up a fight; Kitty's pretty no-nonsense with fighting guys."

Roxas tried to ignore the slight smirk at the corner of Logan's mouth as he spoke.

"I want to see how fast you are." Logan walked to the edge of the mat and picked up a wooden katana. He tossed it to Roxas, grabbing a bo-staff for himself. "Main point is defence. Hit me if you can, but you lose if I hit you eight times."

Roxas nodded and stood in the same battle stance as he had the previous evening. He glanced to the side, at the other end of the room from Kitty and the other guy, where X23 and Shadow were practicing some sort of sequence. He made a mental note to keep an eye on them, see what he could gleam of their tactics.

Logan started up, making a few swipes that Roxas blocked easily enough. Gradually picking up in speed and power, Roxas finally felt like he was getting some real training, instead of the boring weights that he was limited to before.

Logan made a quick swipe at Roxas side, moving faster than before. Roxas mind saw it coming, but his body was a little slow. He blocked it just in time, but he didn't stop there. Moving on instinct, Roxas ducked, flicked Logan's weapon over his head with his own weapon, and the made a sideways chop at Logan's head.

Logan blocked it and made three more very fast strikes, all of which hit. Roxas fought the urge to double over from the pain, but his face scrunched up in agony.

"You alright?" Logan's sympathy sounded limited.

"Fine." Roxas grunted. He stood straight again before resuming his combat stance.

Logan smiled a little and started to slowly spin the staff around himself. "You're tougher than you look."

The next few minutes consisted of Logan hitting with varying degrees of speed and strength, Roxas largely being on defence. Roxas pulled a few more counters, but soon enough it ended with Logan as the winner.

With that over, Logan dismissed him so he could recover. Roxas took the opportunity to look around the room. Shadow was next to verse Logan, and he seemed rather relaxed about it. Logan had ditched the bo-staff, going for hand to hand. Looking to the side, he saw Kitty flaunting a few bills and coins to the other students while flexing her arms. Show-off...

X23 was still doing some warm ups. Had she taken a break at all?

Before Roxas could figure an answer, his attention was drawn back to Logan and Shadow as they began. Roxas was immediately impressed by Logan's brutality and relentlessness, and even more intimidated by Shadow's speed and ferocity. Suddenly, Roxas was having reservations about their upcoming match.

The rules they were going by were easy enough to catch on to. Fists and feet only, first to three knock downs wins.

Roxas walked over to Xavier, who was watching the match with growing concern.

"You never said what his powers were." Roxas said once he was close enough to talk.

"Excuse me?"

"Shadow's powers. You never said what they were."

"Ah. Yes." Xavier smiled through his nervous expression. "Slipped my mind, I guess. He is a telepath, like myself and Jean, and also has similar regenerative abilities to Logan and X23."

"What?" Roxas looked at Shadow. "He can heal like X23?"

"Yes, and he has had adamantium grafted to his skeleton in a similar manner."

So Shadow had claws? Roxas saw the current fight in a new light; if it were no-holds-barred, there'd be quite a bloody display on right now.

"You mentioned telepathy?"

"Yes, I did. Shadow is telepathic, though unlike his regeneration, his telepathy is not as advanced. He is barely above Jean's strength."

Roxas thought about those moments of silence from their earlier discussion. Had Shadow been reading his mind. Whatever, didn't matter now.

"So, telepathy and regeneration...what was the third one?"

"His third power manifests in intense blasts of energy, similar to Scott, but different in that they project from his hands and for the moment seem to be at will."

"Three powers..." Roxas said under his breath. "That's a bit unfair..."

"Indeed. Instead of having one gift, like every other mutant, he has three. But then ,perhaps they were forced upon him, instead of being a product of nature."

Shadow was knocked down hard. There were exaggerated 'ooh's' from outside before the cheers started. Shadow got back up, clenching a fist that momentarily glowed green.

"Hm. Make that four." Xavier said to himself.

Roxas looked to the Professor to explain further.

"Logan mentioned that Shadow shot a beam of projectile energy from his hand."

"So that was the green flash?"

"Yes."

Roxas looked back at the fight. He'd lost who was winning during his conversation with Xavier, but the students outside seemed to be swapping bets in Shadow's favour.

Shadow scored another point, and Scott, who was doing the job of referee again, declared Shadow the winner. He must have been enjoying the position, because he grabbed shadows hand and put it up in the air.

Roxas rolled his eyes and stepped up to the mat for his match with Shadow, fighting the fear that had built during Shadow and Logan's match. He grabbed the wooden katana, hoping that holding it wouldn't interfere with summoning the Keyblade.

Then, to his surprise, X23 walked up and told Shadow to get back. Shadow complied without protest.

_I was beginning to worry she wouldn't come through._

X23 grabbed another katana, turning it around a few times in her hand, and took her place at the other end of the mats centre. Roxas could dimly hear frantic whispers from the other students outside the glass.

Scott gave a look to Xavier, who just gave a nod to go-ahead in response. Roxas figured he was interested to see how their earlier confrontation would play in this. Scott, shrugging, raised his arm.

"Well, at least she's guaranteed to be a little gentler than Shadow..." He muttered.

_Wrong._ Roxas thought.

"First to score two hits." Scott dropped his arm, and X23 leapt in. Unlike Logan, X23 showed no quarter, coming on with relentless attacks. However, they were entirely predictable.

Roxas gained enough confidence to begin dodging instead of blocking. Dodging to one side, Roxas barged into X23. She was heavy because of her skeleton, almost causing Roxas to lose his balance with the effort it took to knock her over.

X23 growled and swiped at his legs, but Roxas easily overleapt the swipe. He stepped out of range and fell into his ready stance. X23 got back up and charged again.

"See ya." Roxas taunted as he fell forward into a roll. He felt his back collide with X23's foot.

"You little..." X23 gasped as she stumbled over. She arose again, but didn't attack.

The next dozen seconds were tense. Roxas risked a glance at the other students. They had ceased their previous behaviour of cheering and playing up the action, and instead were all wearing an expression of nervousness. Maybe they picked up onto the fact X23 wasn't holding back.

X23 seemed to be unsure of what to do. Roxas knew he should take advantage of this, but he was still held back by his weak physique. Finally, X23 made a move, coming in close to try and grapple Roxas like Kitty had. Roxas cursed under his breath, resorting to the same futile efforts that he'd been forced to use with Kitty, struggling against superior strength.

Then Roxas cursed again as he realised wrestling wasn't X23's plan at all. She was going for his sword, trying to wrest it from his grip. He was helpless as he was lifted here and there, the only thing he could do being to hold onto his sword for dear life.

"Get off!" Roxas snarled. X23 responded by hauling him over her shoulder, tearing the hilt of his sword from his fingers with the momentum. Roxas landed on his back, knocking some of the air from his lungs. Cursing X23 with what little air he had left, he rolled away to safety, narrowly avoiding the two descending lengths of wood aimed for his chest.

Roxas came to his feet and got ready to dodge like mad. X23 stood heaving with aggression, whether because of hesitation or personal glory, Roxas couldn't tell. The entire room had gone silent.

After a minute, X23 broke the silence. "Yield." She snarled in a whisper.

"As if." He whispered back, mocking he tone.

She lunged forward, hacking at him viciously. Roxas dodged out of the way, but then was caught by a round house to the ribs. There were gasps from outside.

"X23, that's too far." Xavier said in a warning tone.

Roxas staggered to the side, clutching the side of his chest.

Something exploded in him, and he leapt in savagely. X23 leant to one side to let his charge go past.

Then Roxas reached out and grabbed X23's wrist. She responded by dropping one of the swords and going in for another round of grappling. There was another round of gasps as Roxas rammed his head into her nose—the adamantium didn't cover that—and then a louder round as Roxas rammed a fist into the side of her head. His hand hurt...

"Roxas!" Xavier shouted.

X23 charged at Roxas, ditching her other sword and tackling Roxas to the ground and cracking a rib in the process. Roxas was winded for an instant, giving X23 opportunity to raise her arm for a knock-out blow.

Roxas eyes went wide as he saw the approaching fist. He lifted his hands and—

Then there was a length of blue-black cloud between them. A loud _clang_ rang as X23's fist hit the Keyblade. X23 grunted in pain.

Roxas pushed up with his off hand, bringing the tip of the Keyblade across X23's face. She grunted again and retreated off of him. They retook their positions, only X23 was the one without a weapon.

Roxas, not ignorant of the metal in his opponents arms, didn't let up. He edged his was forward, wary of another attempt at grappling from X23.

"Roxas," Xavier spoke as if he were facing a bomb with a countdown in the single digits, "X23, that is enough!"

"He can't hurt me with that." X23 slowly, menacingly, drew her claws. "I can take him."

"Prove it." Roxas moved in with a pair of downward swipes, forcing X23 back and gaining himself some momentum. He pressed the attack for all it was worth, X23 making an occasional block with her claws. Roxas upped the ante, pushing himself faster to force X23 to make a move or take a hit.

X23 chose the former, crossing her arms in front of an oncoming strike, letting the Keyblade hit. She quickly grabbed hold of the blade, resorting to the same trick as before.

Without thinking, Roxas let her take it. His body moved on instinct and he stepped back. He watched as X23 took the length of black metal, took the grip in hand with a milliseconds quick spin of her wrist. She spun around to bring the blade to Roxas' shoulder and...

He ducked. The Keyblade sailed over his head and he stepped forward to deliver a kick. X23 let out an _'oof'_ as it connected with her abdomen.

X23 fell into a backward roll that brought her to her feet. She snarled and raised the Keyblade to—

"Roxas wins!"

Both X23 and Roxas stopped. "What?" They said in bewilderment.

"First to two hits." Scott explained, keeping his tone neutral. "Roxas landed a punch, and he just landed a kick as well. He wins." His voice lowered to a warning tone. "Back away."

Roxas did as Scott said. X23, on the other hand, sliced through a door and left.

There was a long moment of silence before Kitty was heard ushering everyone away outside, with the help of a few other students.

"I'm going after X23." Logan said gruffly as he left through the cut up door. Xavier motored over to Roxas.

"I expect you and X23 to resolve this as soon as possible. I will tell her the same."

Roxas looked at the floor and nodded. "Yes, Professor."

As he turned away, Xavier said over his shoulder, "Nice right hook, but aim for the jaw next time."

Roxas watched the Professor move over to the broken door, where Scott was standing. From what Roxas could discern, they were talking about X23. Either that or how they did not need to be paying for another door on top of all the other damage around the school. He absently rubbed his right hand, a smile finding its way to his face. Then he rubbed his side. The rib wasn't broken outright, but it hurt a lot. He fought an urge to touch his face.

"Are you still up for another round?" Shadow called from where he stood against a wall on the other side of the room, where he had been since the start of Roxas and X23's fight

"I'll be fine," He answered, patting the damaged rib, "Just a bruise." He twirled the Keyblade in his hand as Shadow approached the mat. "Oblivion..." He whispered.

"Naming our toys, are we?" Shadow jested.

Roxas froze, his grip on the Keyblade tightening with annoyance. "What am I, six?" He turned to face Shadow, holding the Keyblade at his side. "I was remembering what it was called."

"Can you remember anything further?" Shadow asked.

"No." Roxas voice gained a twinge of sadness. "I've tried but...well, my head starts to hurt if I push too far."

Shadow nodded, as if understandingly. "Can you get rid of it?"

Roxas shook his head. "No. If I could, I would've pulled a little trick on X23; make it disappear so she couldn't get it off me, and the make it reappear when I want it."

Shadow raised an eyebrow. "Crafty. Try to make that happen this time."

Roxas displayed the Keyblade. "You want me to grab a wooden sword?"

Shadow examined one of his hands. "No. The Keyblade will do fine. I'll use my fists." He brought his hands up in front of him and began to circle Roxas. "If I manage to hit you, I win a point."

"Sounds good to me." Scott said as he came away from the door. "You sure you're up for it?"

Roxas nodded. "Yes." He looked out the window. "Pity there's no crowd this..." He trailed off, still looking out at the night-time darkness. He could have sworn he saw something...

"Roxas?" Scott asked, shaking Roxas shoulder a bit. "You still there?"

"Huh?" Roxas came back to himself. He shook his head and got his mind back on track. "It's nothing. Just...thought there was a cat outside...or something."

_ He knew there was more to it than that, something _really_ important, but..._

Scott shrugged. "First to two, like last time. Just no broken noses, ribs, or any injuries requiring casts or stitches. Got it?"

Roxas lunged in with the Keyblade aimed for Shadow's ribs. "Sure."

* * *

**Welcome back to the story everyone! First post of the new year. I like to think I did well with this, but I'm not entirely sure; mostly, I don't think the 'he knew there was more to it than than' came across quite right. Still, considering that I rewrote the end of it twice, I think I did well. Better than what happened with chapter fifteen; anyone who's written anything will have come across this blunder:**

**Last week, I was doing my thing; typing for a moment, then playing freecell, mahjong, chess, solitare, whatever, until going back to typing, all the while decimating my eardrums with some music. Typical stuff. I finished for the day, and backed up my story from my flash drive to my computer (as every one should do; have at least two or three back ups). What I didn't realize was, I had been working on the copy that was on my computer, not my flash drive; I copied over roughly two hours of work!**

**After searching madly through my computer for a way to recover the lost data, I took a moment to recover from my disheartened state. After some time, I sat back down, and tried to re-write the ending to chapter fifteen from memory. Three and a half pages...**

**When I post it, I'll point out what parts were affected, and how I think they came out originally. It came out alright, but not as I originally intended.**

**As for the reviews that have come up during the break; I am very enthused by the support and positive reception that my writing has gotten. I didn't have any questions asked between Roxas and X23 during their fight, because it seemed a little unlikely, given their personalities (X23 only talked to Logan during her fight with him in the series because she was venting some trauma, and this is simply some personal confusion). Shadow is a bit of a jerk in this, yes, but if you look at his behavior in any Sonic(tm) games, comics, or whatever, you'll see he's not very pleasant anyway. He goes for his goal. To hell with anything else.**

**The link in Roxas' mind is something of a big thing to get around. I'm not sure where to go with it; it's there, Namine is trying to use it to find Roxas, she can commune with him, but what else to do with it?**

**Anyway, I digress. To Darkness21; I'll give it a look, just as soon as I'm through the book I'm currently reading (just finished another one before that. Read for an entire day!).**

**That's all for now. Hope you enjoyed the chapter, and I'll update in two weeks.**


	15. Chapter Fifteen

**A/N**

**I have done some thinking about the elephant in the room, i.e, the fact that people were holding the Oblivion without it going back to Roxas instantaneously. While it is correct that this is in violation of the weapon mechanics, and also may annoy some of the more hard core KH fans, I have decided not to edit it out of the this chapter or the preceding one. My reasons for this is, after considering what changes would need to be made, I found that neither fight felt serious; the insta-retrieval thing became a sad flypaper gimmick.**

**However, I have found that this is the only time that this will happen. Chapters XIV and XV can be excused because Roxas is unaware of that little detail, but from now on, after this chapter, it will return at once if it is held by another.**

**On with the chapter.**

* * *

Shadow dodged to the side with laughable ease. "Your martial arts need more art."

Roxas came at him again, and Shadow blocked with his forearm, the teeth of the weapon digging into his flesh and stopping at his adamantium bone.

_ Right, _Roxas thought, _The regeneration. Of course he'd have that metal stuff as well._

Shadow grabbed hold of the blade with his other hand and pulled back, throwing Roxas behind him and tearing the Keyblade from his grasp.

"Dammit." Roxas growled furiously.

Shadow examined the Keblade briefly before tossing it back to Roxas. "Sick of being thrown around?" Shadow asked.

"Just a little." Roxas picked up the weapon and examined it himself.

"Well try harder to avoid it, then." Shadow backed away a step and beckoned for Roxas to attack again.

Roxas got up and came forward, this time feigning an overhead chop. Shadow moved to the side again and made a move to grab the blade, and Roxas pulled out of the fake move and slashed for Shadow's underarm. Shadow contorted his body out of the way and gave ground.

Roxas moved forward, determined to press the attack and take advantage of the ground given. Shadow twisted out of the way of each swipe from Roxas, and then suddenly dropped low into an ankle sweep, knocking Roxas' feet out from under him. Roxas fell into a roll that brought him out of the way of a descending knee from Shadow.

"Good." Shadow praised, then spun a kick at Roxas' stomach. Roxas hopped back and slashed down at the extended limb. Shadow withdrew his leg and started advancing, swinging his fists at Roxas in wide, powerful arcs. Roxas blocked each blow easily, holding the Keyblade at both ends, but quickly felt the pressure as Shadows fists started to faintly glow green.

"I thought we agreed no serious injuries." Scott said from the side.

"I doubt it will do more damage than your optic blasts." Shadow replied. He suddenly made a straight punch. Roxas, caught off guard by the change in strikes and still extending his arms to block a wide swing, narrowly ducked his head to the side and out of the way, causing Shadow's arm to go harmlessly between his own. He instantly moved forward and to the side, getting a forearm behind Shadow's shoulder and the other along the length of his opponent's arm. With the Keyblade as lever and brace, Roxas pushed Shadow forward and over, completing the bind.

"That was quick." Shadow sounded genuinely impressed. "But there is a flaw in this bind."

"And what is that?" Roxas asked, full of confidence at having effectively pinned the multi-powered mutant.

"This." Shadow stood up from the floor effortlessly, lifting and launching Roxas a metre and a half back.

Roxas landed hard on his back. "What the...?" He gasped breathlessly.

"Increased physical power," Shadow said plainly. "Something I got from G.U.N. Genetic engineering, not a natural mutation. By the way..." Shadow was suddenly a blur of motion as he jumped into a cartwheel, landing over Roxas. He dropped down and tapped Roxas on the head with his fist. "One point to me."

Roxas gritted his teeth. "Congratulations." He grumbled. He got up and stood at one side of the mat. Okay, so Shadow had three mutations; telepathy, so he could probably see what he was about to do; healing, so wearing him down wasn't an option; and those energy fists, which were guaranteed to hurt a little bit extra. On top of that, Shadow also had strength enough to throw Roxas across the room. Roxas wondered what else might be up his sleeve...

Shadow lunged forward with a vicious upward strike. Roxas dodged and cut at Shadow, but Shadow ducked into a roll. Roxas moved in with an overhead chop, and Shadow came up and grabbed the Keyblade by its tip as it came down. Roxas spun to the side, pulling the Keyblade across himself to throw Shadow off balance before backing away a step.

Shadow stood and, instead of charging again, held his fists at shoulder height, much like one of those 'shonen jump' show heroes during a power up. His fists ignited into green flame, and Shadow gritted his teeth in agony. "Let's see how this goes."

"Shadow..." Scott warned.

"I tried this earlier before cleaning," Shadow said as he began advancing toward Roxas, "It isn't dangerous so long as I don't shoot." He winced in pain. "It does hurt like hell, though."

Roxas shifted his footing. "Won't hurt if it can't touch me." This was meant to challenge Shadow rather than reassure Scott. Shadow took the bait and lunged forward, striking straight and fast instead of wide. Roxas was forced to give ground. He could feel the heat from Shadow's fists.

Time to start his own power up. He risked thinking back to his fight with the assassins, when he had unleashed that length of light. How could he use that here?

Shadow hammered at Roxas with a flurry of strikes, then jumped into a sideways flip that brought his leg into a stamp on Roxas' upper chest.

Winded for the second time in one night, Roxas somehow managed enough breath to snarl in fury. He rolled aside, avoiding another fist meant to finish the fight and bringing himself into a defensive stance. Shadow continued the attack, and Roxas gave ground again.

_I need to get some space. _Roxas dodged and grabbed Shadow's wrist, pulling him forward and hopping away two steps. Shadow regained his balance and attacked again. _Damn it! How do I slow this guy down?_ Roxas halted as he realised he'd been chased to the edge. If he stepped off, Shadow could argue a claim for victory.

_Dammit ._Roxas felt his frustration boiling over. He charged forward, holding the Keyblade like a log to push Shadow out of the way. It worked for a moment; Shadow was caught off guard by the sudden charge, but after being forced back a few steps threw Roxas forward with his own momentum. Roxas rolled and came back to his feet. Angry, he attacked before Shadow had the chance. The strike were wild and fast, maintaining only a shred of technique.

Shadow retreated, trying to bat Roxas' strikes away, but without success. The binds and grapples were equally ineffective when he tried them, Roxas being very wary of them despite his rage. He instead tried to stand his ground.

Roxas and Shadow stood hammering away at each other, Shadow's arms landing on the Keyblade and vice versa. Roxas let his mind go back, pulling up the feeling that brought forth the light, letting it build.

"I'd rather end this soon, if you don't mind." Shadow said casually.

Roxas leant out of the way of a flaming fist and stabbed the Keyblade hard into Shadows chest. "You got it."

Shadow flew back, going through the glass window and skidding to a stop outside. His gasps of disbelief were heard inside as he got to his feet.

Roxas fell back into his ready stance, fighting an urge to charge out into the night after Shadow. Shadow stormed back in, a slight shade of red in his face, more likely from rage than humiliation. "Cute." He said, his voice threatening.

Roxas let the light build up again, a faint aura surrounding him. He attacked, and Shadow grabbed the Keyblade and threw it and it's bearer outside. Roxas tumbled across the yard and came to a stop. As he stood, Roxas noticed some of the students coming back outside to see what was going on, clearly drawn by the noise of Shadow going through the window.

A streak of green impacted on the ground less than a metre from Roxas, sending grass and dirt into his face and knocking him down again.

"Do not be distracted." Shadow chided.

"Shadow," Xavier called from inside, "This is starting to go too far."

_Starting to?_ Roxas wiped the dirt off his face and backside. What exactly _did_ the Professor consider too far?

"Roxas seems to be doing fine." Logan commented from within the destroyed window frame. He must have come back from his chat with X23 while Roxas and Shadow were engrossed in their fight.

Shadow continued forward undeterred. "We'll see how long that lasts".

Roxas scrambled to his feet and leapt forward even as Shadow leapt backward. They engaged in another bash, invincible bones on mythical blade. Roxas felt the fight slipping away from him, Shadow cutting loose and moving faster and faster.

Suddenly, Shadow broke off his attack and reached forward, grabbing Roxas and pulling him toward him. Before Roxas knew it, he was fighting against a choke hold, one hand in the inside of Shadows elbow stopping the hold from rendering him unconscious.

Roxas struggled against Shadow's superior strength, somehow holding him off. He tried dropping out of the hold. It worked, and Roxas threw himself forward. He quickly turned over onto his back to kick at Shadow, but he had backed out of range.

Roxas stood, and Shadow came on again swinging down with a fiery green fist. Inspiration hit Roxas, and he stabbed forward. Shadow grunted, more from surprise than pain, as his forearm was impaled.

There were exclamations all around at the gruesome sight. Roxas pumped a fist in victory.

"First to two hits." He said. "I win."

"Forearm..." Shadow growled as he pulled the blade from his flesh. "Doesn't...count." He finished taking the blade out and threw it to Roxas.

Roxas let it hit the ground. He was hesitant to pick it up. Ugh, blood. Lots of it. He tried charging it up with that light-energy stuff, hoping it might burn away some of it. It worked, though there was some that stayed. He twirled it in his hand as Shadow began to circle him.

Right, Shadow wasn't going to hold back at all this time, having gotten tired of the fight and now irked at Roxas' near win. He'd move too fast for Roxas to defend. There had to be a way to make him hesitate, pull a sneak move, or just slow him down.

_Hmm._ Roxas looked at the Keyblade, an idea coming to him. _Would he..._

Shadow charged, closing the distance between them quickly. Roxas threw the Keyblade at him. The throw was good enough, forcing Shadow to dive out of the way, and the Keyblade stabbed into the ground. Then Shadow leapt into a handspring that landed him beside the Keyblade.

_Yes!_ He was falling for it. He then curbed his exitement, fearing Shadow might glimpse his mind.

Shadow picked up the weapon and came forward again, leaping into the air to bring the Keyblade down to hopefully stop above Roxas' head.

Roxas extended his arm.

"_Gah—!"_

For several moments, there was silence. Everyone was still, as if they had been frozen in place. A drop of blood hitting the ground shook the loser out of his stupor. He looked at his outstretched hands, where a weapon had been a moment ago, and then down at his chest, where the weapon now was.

"...son of a bitch..."

Roxas withdrew the blade, a few more droplets falling to the ground as he did. There were whispers of amazement and disbelief from everyone gathered.

"I." Roxas rested the bloodied tip in the ground. "Win."

Shadow's face went back to the cold stare he usually wore. He turned and went back inside through the demolished window. The whispers turned to cheers.

Roxas made a flourish, and with a flick of his wrist, he dematerialised the Keyblade. He beat him. And not only that, but both him and X23 in the one night! He wondered if Logan might be up for a rematch...

"Alright! Enough, enough!" Scott managed to shout over the din of praise easily enough. "Everyone back inside; it's late."

Roxas was a little disappointed—he was rather enjoying being cheered—but Scott was right; it was getting more than just a bit late. He walked back in through the window, stopped only by Scott who whispered "Don't forget about X23," as they passed each other.

Roxas hadn't forgotten. He was just unsure of how to handle the situation. Hell, he wasn't even sure what the problem was. Thus far, he had this: X23 was upset because she cared about Roxas— because friends are supposed to care about each other—and Roxas had put himself in danger. He understood that; he himself was a little worried when Kurt, X23, Kitty and Rogue were fighting for their lives when he was in the Bunker. But X23 was blowing it entirely out of proportion.

He left through the doorway that X23 had sliced through earlier. He made his way through the halls and rooms. He stopped as he felt a pain in his gut and a growl along with it. _All that fighting's caught up a little_, he thought. He decided a snack before bed might be a good thing, in this case.

He walked more briskly to the kitchen. He stopped outside the door, hearing someone inside and fearing it might be a teacher.

"Come on in, kid." Logan called. Roxas opened the door to see Logan leaning at the fridge, looking at the open door as if trying to stare the food into making itself into a meal. Roxas approached and stole a peek inside the fridge himself.

"Have you talked to X23 yet?" Logan asked.

Roxas looked down at the floor. "No." He muttered.

Logan smirked. "Good. Don't. She's still pissed."

Roxas looked up at Logan. He'd talked to her, so maybe he could help. "You've talked with her already?" He asked, starting his inquiry.

"Sure." Logan grabbed a sandwich and an ice coffee. He turned to face Roxas. "What do you want to know?"

"Why is she so angry? And why does she want to know about the Oblivion so bad?"

"Oblivion?" Logan asked, intrigued. "You figured out a name for it?"

"Remembered, actually." Roxas clarified. He reached into the fridge and grabbed some leftover chicken from two days ago. "I can remember trivial things like that." Roxas took a whiff of the chicken to make sure the meat was still good. Smelling nothing iffy, he took a bite. "But anything important, like what it can do or where I got it, and my head starts to hurt."

"You mean like the other day?"

"Yeah. I'm starting to think the brain-pain is a safeguard or something."

"It probably is." Logan agreed. "Back on topic; What did you want to know?"

"Why is X23 so angry?"

Logan was silent as he thought, taking a bite from his sandwich in the meantime. "Long story short, you scare her."

Roxas was very much taken aback. _Scare_ her? "What do you mean?" He asked, letting his confusion show.

Logan was silent for a moment before beckoning Roxas over to a table at the other side of the room. Sitting down, he tried to explain, "You don't have much of an idea of who or what you are, and X23 can relate to that a little. She grew up being moulded into something other than a person; a soldier and a weapon. She pities you, and that makes her feel...vulnerable...like she's opening up." He bit into the sandwich and made a gesture in the general direction of the rest of the mansion. "She's never done that with anyone else, and it scares her that she has someone like that." He chuckled. "But don't tell her I said that."

Roxas was no less confused. "Pities me?"

The smile from the chuckle faded. "She's not used to having a friend. She'll confide in me, but it isn't the same. I'm technically family. You're something new to her, and she's not sure how to handle it."

Roxas nodded. He took another bite of the chicken. He felt a little bit of sympathy for her now. He didn't know much about her past until now, X23 closing up whenever they got near the subject.

"She's young." Logan continued. "I'm not too good with emotion, and since she's my clone, neither is she. But she's just starting to open herself up to the world, and she's experiencing a lot of new emotions. Take that into consideration."

Roxas nodded again and decided to switch topic. "Why does she want to know about the Oblivion so bad?"

Logan shrugged. "Doesn't everyone?"

Roxas shook his head. "Not like that. It's more like...what Shadow does. Actually, why do either of the m want to know?"

Logan shrugged again. "Shadow's a soldier, and he's too old to start being much of anything else. I already explained X23."

Roxas gave a nod, taking the hint. Logan sculled his coffee and stood up from the table. "Don't stay up too late," he said, and then left. Roxas finished the chicken in silence and put the plate into the sink. He left the kitchen and then wandered aimlessly through the halls for a while, weighing what he would say to X23. After what seemed to be hours, but in truth was just half of one, he decided to go out and try his luck. Hopefully she wouldn't slap him this time...

* * *

**Okay, like I said in the last post, I had a save screw up. What was lost was from Shadow putting Roxas in a head lock onward. What was affected the most was Roxas' thinking on how to beat Shadow, and the talk between Roxas and Logan. The latter, I think, is not quite as in depth as it was originally, but it will do. X23's character is difficult to get out, I'll say that much.**

**Anyway, working this fight was a chore. Roxas is still very much unconditioned for battle, so having him fight like this this early in the story is a bit difficult to get right. And since I'm doing most of this story as I get to it, its even harder. (I'm so looking forward to finishing this. I'll be able to PLAN the next one before I write it)**

**Next chapter, I introduce something for Roxas to watch out for. It's nothing epic or big, just an introduction, though it is a villain.**


	16. Chapter Sixteen

X23's pace had slowed to a slow back-and-forth saunter, her rage having dissipated after the first forty minutes. She was still angry, just not because she lost. Logan had come out pretty soon after she had and told her not to be such a sore loser. The point he had made was, if she had lost to Kurt or Scott, would she still be in such a huff? The answer was no. After that, there had been an explosion inside, and Logan went back inside fearing what Shadow might have done.

The truth was, X23 wasn't angry about losing, exactly. She had been hoping to prove a point; that if Roxas couldn't beat her, how would he fare against what else is out there, like those assassins.

And then he beat her.

At any rate, she was still outside pacing, not wanting to go back inside.

She heard approaching footsteps. She made a quick glance. Her pace quickened slightly when she saw Roxas walking toward her. She made no move to acknowledge him, though she had been expecting him. Albeit a little sooner than an hour and a bit...

"X23?" He said, sounding unsure.

She made no response. She was unsure of what to say herself.

"I'm sorry for...breaking your nose."

He didn't need to be sorry about that. She was never angry about stuff like that; she was nigh immortal. Still, she again didn't reply.

"Look, I get why you're angry. I shouldn't have tried to fight those masked guys."

Oh, now he gets it. "Did Shadow kicking your ass finally beat that into you?"

"Uh...I beat Shadow."

He _what?_ "You what?" She asked, stopping in her tracks.

Roxas gained a little enthusiasm. "I got two hits on Shadow before he could on me. Though, really, I got _three_ hits, but he was just too full of it to admit it."

X23 shook her head. Whatever he did to win, it had to be luck. "Congratulations." She said thinly, resuming her pacing. "So what's with the apology then?"

Roxas paused a few times before he answered, "I...know I scared everyone when I did that. I could have died."

Close, but not quite. "And you tried to do it alone as well. Even if you knew how to fight—."

"I do." Roxas interjected with a hint of annoyance.

"Even if we believed you," X23 continued, "We all would have slapped you in the face for that. _Always _wait for back up. Lone wolves die pretty quick." Not that she was one to talk, but still.

"Right." Roxas said. "Sorry."

X23 slowed and nodded. "Apology accepted. And, sorry for being so rough."

Roxas flushed with embarrassment. "Well, I broke you nose and cut your cheek."

"I heal." She stated. "So, what was that what that explosion about? Shadow being a sore loser?"

Roxas blushed a little more. "Actually...that was me."

X23 stopped again. "How?" She asked, not sure how else to phrase her bewilderment.

Roxas brought his hand up and quickly clenched his fist. The Keyblade materialised out of a cloud of darkness. "This." He said proudly.

X23 stared at it for a while. "How?"

"I just charged it up, like this;" He held it toward the sky and the tip of the blade started to shimmer with light, enough to illuminate the area.

"You've started to remember." She said in an almost whisper.

"Not really." Roxas explained, letting the energy dissipate. "It's only stuff that I've...you know...memorised, or something."

X23 knew what he meant. "It's information that you trained yourself to know instinctively."

Roxas nodded. "I know what it's called now, though; Oblivion."

X23 smiled and shook her head. "You made that up." She accused.

"Get real!" Roxas shot back. "I remembered it!"

X23 kept smiling as Roxas laughed. After a moments, Roxas looked at her curiously. "Can I ask you something?"

X23 narrowed her eyes. "Like?"

"You and Logan... some people were trying to make you into weapons. Does that make you angry?"

"Sure," She answered casually, though not understanding the sudden interest. "But it's something I've moved on from."

Roxas was quiet for a moment. "But...how did you?"

X23 didn't respond for a moment, examining her friend. "Is it something you've remembered?" She asked.

"Yeah." Roxas answered. He dematerialised the Oblivion and put his hands in his pockets. "When I sleep, I have these...dreams. I dream I'm walking through a street, and there's a friend against a building. I remember being angry because he lied to me or something."

"As you would be." X23 agreed, "But Logan's the guy you should be talking to. You and him don't remember much how you were used."

There was a sudden change in Roxas' expression at the term 'used'. "I can remember the feeling well enough, though." He said.

X23 tilted her head to the side slightly. "What do you mean?"

Roxas scratched his head. "It's another memory that comes and goes, but there was something I lost because of what I was told to do. And I was angry with that friend at the building for it."

"Do you remember what happened to your friend?" X23 asked.

Roxas shook his head. "I remember not really giving a damn what happened to him after that." He smiled a little. "I think I'm a really bitter sort of guy."

"No you're not." X23 said with a slight smile. "You just have to sort this out with that friend someday."

"But how?" Roxas asked.

X23 shrugged. "Don't know. But I had to with Logan, so I guess you'll have to do the same."

Roxas raised an eyebrow. "What happened between you and him?"

X23 couldn't help but smile. "I'll tell you some other time." She said, causing her smile to take on a mischievous tone.

Roxas was confused for a moment, but let it slip. "Hey, while we're out here, what's your take on Shadow?"

X23 looked at the mansion. "He's got multiple mutations, he's a better fighter than me and Logan, and he's pretty closed off." She looked at Roxas and shrugged. "He's like me and Logan. Born and raised to be a weapon."

"Not that." Roxas said. "He's wound up tighter than a piano string. He accuses me of being a spy every time we talk and he's super protective of Maria."

X23 shrugged again. "He's a soldier in a civilian environment."She gestured to his hand. "He might let the spy thing drop after a while, but the fact remains; we don't know what trouble you might bring here yet."

Roxas held the Oblivion with both hands and examined it. "It's weird; I know how to use it, but I don't know what I used it for." He materialised it again, and held it like a ruler to examine it

X23 put a hand on her hip. "So if I ask what that is, will you tell me to bite you again?"

Roxas chuckled. "No. It's the weapon of a Keyblade wielder. I can shoot stuff from it, slice through things, and make it disappear and reappear from a distance. That's what I did during my fight with Shadow."

"Disappear and reappear?" X23 asked.

Instead of answering, Roxas tossed the Oblivion to her. She caught it, and took the opportunity to look at it up close. The chain decoration up the blade was very detailed, but devoid of any sort of scratches. In fact, it was devoid of any damage. Had he used this at all? Or was it made from...?

Suddenly, it vanished in a puff of ink-black smoke. X23 took a step back, startled. She looked at Roxas to ask what happened, only to see him hanging it over his shoulder, smiling deviously from ear to ear.

"Cute." She muttered.

Roxas only laughed. "I think I have a few more tricks, but I need to remember them first."

"Have you remembered anything else?" X23 asked.

"I know I used it for something," He brought it off his shoulder and examined it again, "But I...it keeps slipping away."

"What do you mean?" X23 was really curious now.

Roxas seemed to be struggling to find the words. "When I was fighting Shadow, there was something outside. It was small, and I didn't get a good look at it, but...for a moment, I _knew_ exactly what it was. And then it was all gone again."

X23 was a bit let down. "Is that all? Are you sure you can't remember anything else?"

Roxas scratched at his head as he thought, letting the Oblivion swing back and forth in his hand. He stopped, his face taking on a look of caution. He slowly looked down at the Oblivion, "I think..." He winced in pain and touched the side of his head, the brain-pain obviously starting up, "I think...I think it was what I used the Oblivion on."

X23 didn't understand. "You mean, it's an enemy that's followed you, or...?"

Roxas eyes went wide with alarm. "Say that again." He said, almost numbly.

"Is it something that followed you?"

Roxas eyes shifted back and forth, and a cold sweat started to form on his brow. "_Shit..._"

"What?" X23 was alarmed by the show of fear. "What is it?"

In reply, Roxas grabbed her arm and pulled her toward the mansion. "We have to get back inside."

"What ar—?"

"_Now._" The urgency in his voice left no room for arguement.

X23 followed him to the demolished front lobby. "What are we running from?" She asked when they got to the stairs.

Roxas froze. "That."

X23 followed his gaze up the stairs. She froze as well. Not from fear, but because she wasn't sure what she was looking at. It was small, with a round body and head, with a pair of arms and legs and what looked like two antennae on its head. "What's so scary about that?" She whispered in Roxas' ear.

"They get bigger." He whispered back.

The little creature took a step forward, it's antennae twitching. Roxas held the Oblivion up defensively, ready for an attack. X23 felt uneasy, like she was in the back seat in this fight. She was about to step out from behind Roxas and draw her claws when Roxas suddenly pushed her to the side and slashed behind her. Two halves of another creature landed on the steps up from her.

"Don't let them grab onto you." He warned, before a small swarm appeared out of the shadows. X23 stabbed one of the creatures in the face as it came down from the ceiling, before throwing it into another. The one she stabbed dissolved in midair, leaving the one she threw it at unhindered. "They go down easy enough." She remarked as she started slashing and stabbing at them. "So what were you so afraid of here?"

"They're drawn to it." He said in an almost shout.

"Drawn to what?" One of the creatures latched onto her arm. She couldn't make out any sort of biting motion and acidic secretion, but whatever it did burned like dry ice. She stabbed it, and it crumbled off. She stole a look at the wound as she fought on; the flesh looked...mummified. It healed rapidly, as her body always did, but she was fascinated by it. What were these things?

Soon, there were no more. Roxas stood there, panting and standing fully alert, as though he were in his element. He quickly dismissed the Oblivion and hurried X23 down the halls and to the elevators.

Roxas took an occasional glance around them as they went along, as though he were wary of another attack but didn't really expect there to be one. X23 figured he might be more at ease to answer questions now.

"What were they?"

"The Heartless."

"The what?"

"They're...not flesh and blood. More like...energy"

"Energy?" She asked sceptically.

Roxas picked up on the disbelieving tone. "It's a bit difficult to explain without sounding crazy. Long story short, those things are drawn to Keyblades, and they like to turn other beings into more of them."

"Is that what it was doing?" X23 asked more to herself than Roxas as she looked at her arm.

Roxas stopped and looked at her. He saw the gap in her sleeve. "Did one get you?"

"It healed." She said.

Roxas seemed a bit surprised. "Let's go. We're almost to the elevator."

They walked quickly yet calmly down the last hall to the corner, and rounded it quickly.

They both froze again, a bit of fear taking both of them.

"You two have some explaining to do." Ororo and Logan said in unison.

Roxas dematerialised the Oblivion. "Great..."

* * *

X23 and Roxas would have been given severe amounts of detention and after-school work if they hadn't been attacked. They were already in trouble for staying out as late as they had before they started going inside.

Regardless, they had gotten the Professor up at a ludicrous hour to hear what they had to say. Despite the late hour, Xavier was quickly brought to full attention by their report.

"It was a cold burn, like liquid nitrogen, but the affected area looked like it had been dried out instead of frozen." X23 described the wound that the Heartless that bit her had given. She and Roxas had already gone through a basic description of what the creatures looked like and what Roxas remembered of them, but Xavier still seemed to be thinking about something.

"Thank you, X23. Get some rest."

X23 turned to leave. "Nice work." She said quietly to Roxas before going out the door.

"You said these 'Heartless' are drawn to Keyblades." Xavier was drumming his fingers on his desk.

"Yes."

"Why?"

Roxas thought for a moment. "The Heartless are...creatures without hearts. Like me, I think. I don't know how it works, or how it's possible, but what they want is to turn other hearts into more of them." He pointed a thumb over his shoulder. "That's what almost happened to X23."

Xavier shook his head slightly. "I'm not sure I understand what you mean by, 'turn hearts into them', but you didn't answer my question."

Roxas took a breath. "Keyblades run off hearts. Hearts attract Heartless. Therefore, Keyblades are beacons to Heartless."

Xavier cocked an eyebrow. "But you don't have a heart."

"I think that's why that's why they only just showed up." Roxas said. He looked at the ceiling, where the mansion was. "If I don't use the Oblivion unnecessarily, they shouldn't show up."

Xavier was silent for a few moments. Finally, he said, "Very well. Don't use the Oblivion unless you absolutely need to."

Roxas nodded his compliance. "Right. I'll go get some rest."

Xavier made a light grunt. "Hopefully I can do the same."

Roxas left and walked to his room. Everyone else was still asleep, thankfully, so he had no other interruptions as he started trying to sleep. As he did, he thought about everything that had happened in the last twenty-four hours. He learned he has a magic link inside his head, he lost to Kitty and Logan, he beat X23 and Shadow, and now he knew the catch to the Keyblade. Quite a day.

He tossed and turned a few times, but found that despite his exhaustion—a day of fighting will do that—he couldn't sleep. He found his thoughts being drawn to the fact that his use of the Oblivion would result in the Heartless showing up. He knew it to be a fact. He had to prepare, because it wouldn't just be those small ones every time.

What about X23? Would she teach him? Maybe...but would she keep doing so if the Professor found out?

An idea popped into his head. He smiled. Tomorrow, he was going to ask Xavier something big.

He was going to ask to be an X-Man.

* * *

**Okay, first off, if you were expecting another fight, sorry to disappoint. It just didn't seem like it would flow well, and it seemed just a bit out of character for the two of them. Anyway, there's the Heartless. Are they a big threat? Are they going to trash the school? Are they going to try to take X23's heart?**

**...**

**Keep reading my story and find out. So there.**

**Gonna do a bit of character building from here on (mostly between Roxas and X23), and build up Roxas abilities here and there. Meanwhile, I'll set up things on the outside for everything to go to hell later on. Then it gets interesting.**


	17. Chapter Seventeen (Late V-Day)

**A/N**

**It's a tad late, but whatever. I'm fairly certain I have the cronology of this story around the end of winter, where most of the snow is gone. I don't know how the weather is around the time of Valentines in america, but oh well. Enjoy.**

**P.S. I'm going to take a little longer to post the next chapter, as I've posted this one early.**

* * *

"Absolutely not."

"What?!" Roxas couldn't believe it. The Professor just said no? "Why not?"

"We do not have any reason or opportunity to go on missions as regularly as we once did. Things are degrading rapidly out there." Xavier looked outside. "The prejudice against mutants is growing. If we are seen running around the countryside, or anywhere in the country, anyone living nearby may call the authorities."

Roxas was confused. "Why would they do that?"

Xavier sighed. "You have much to learn, young man."

"I guess I do." Roxas said, hiding his annoyance of being looked down on by the Professor. "What about those assassins? What if they come back?"

"If they come back, they'll have S.H.I.E.L.D to deal with. Director Fury is very much determined to keep Shadow and his knowledge of this G.U.N organisation safe. And even if he wasn't, you're not fit for field work. You're a student."

"I can fight." Roxas said, feeling defensive.

There was a moment of silence before Xavier spoke again. "Young man, I think the last two days have gone to your head."

Roxas fought the urge to kick the Professor's desk. "They have not." He said coolly.

"Then you should have no problem accepting my answer. No. And that is final. Do you understand."

Roxas had never felt so furious. "Yes Professor." He said with perfect calm, though inside he was imagining a string of raging comments.

"Good. Now get back to class. Break is over."

Roxas left and did as the Professor said. He muttered under his breath the entire way to the class, not responding to the praise for his abilities and questions about his powers from the other students. Not because he was still angry from his rejection by the Professor, but because he'd been getting them all day. Along with that, there was this Valentine thing going on. No-one had told him about it before today, which, granted, was because of what had been going on this week, but was no less irritating. He hated being in the dark about what was going on. But instead of being overly annoyed, he just ignored them.

He passed by a trio of men with clipboards. Today, the insurance company was inspecting the damage. They didn't acknowledge him, nor vice versa. There was a joke going around about the damage that Shadow and Roxas had caused, which Roxas found funny enough, but preferred to ignore along with everything else anyway.

He reached the elevator and thumbed the button.

"Good morning, Roxas." Came a voice from behind him.

Roxas turned around with a start to face the small blonde girl. "Don't do that." He said with a smile. "How are you, Maria?"

"I'm fine." She said. "Happy Valentine's Day. I'm glad you and Shadow didn't hurt each other yesterday."

"Me too." Roxas said, half truthful. Shadow himself was up in the mansion as well, and would be all day; those S.H.I.E.L.D guys were back again. "Were you watching?" Roxas asked.

"No." Maria said with a shake of her head. "I don't like fighting."

"Fair enough." Roxas agreed. The elevator opened, and he allowed Maria in first. As he did, the thought crossed his mind that she wouldn't have been far from Shadow, and hence might have talked with S.H.I.E.L.D. "Hey, Maria, what is S.H.I.E.L.D here for?"

Maria shrugged. "I don't know." She said. "But I did meet some people from S.H.I.E.L.D. They were some sort of child protection people, because they were asking a lot of questions."

Roxas was intrigued. "What kind of questions?"

"'How are you feeling?' 'how have you been eating?' 'how is Shadow and Professor Xavier treating you?'" She droned out the questions as if she were imitating a boring instructor. "They eventually got to asking if I felt safe here. I said I did, but they didn't give up there."

"What do you mean?" Roxas asked.

"They thought I would be better off in their care." She giggled. "I thought that was silly. S.H.I.E.L.D is a military branch, not a school. They wouldn't have any real teachers, and even if they did, I don't want to learn inside grey walls."

Roxas wasn't sure what difference the colour of the walls made, but he felt he got the point; S.H.I.E.L.D were military, going from what Maria said, and seemed to be very interested in Shadow, possibly Maria as well. If they were watching them like hawks from afar, they'd be looking over their shoulders and up their noses if they had them in a safe house that the army owned.

"So do you like it here then?"

Maria looked at him. "What do you mean?"

Roxas shifted his feet. "I mean...well, what was it like? Where you come from?"

Maria frowned a little. "It wasn't a home. It was a...very bad place." She rolled up a sleeve, showing a number of scars on the underside of her arm.

Roxas recoiled slightly. Who would do that? She was barely a teenager!

Seeing his revulsion, Maria explained, "They don't just do experiments on mutants."

"Experiments..." Roxas echoed. He felt like that word hit home somewhere... "Why do they do it?"

"Like I said; they're afraid," She said, looking up at him again, "They're afraid that mutants will take over, or that humans will..." She trailed off, shaking her head slightly as if to dispel a painful memory. "...that humans will eventually die out."

"Die out?" Roxas asked. "What does that mean?"

"Well, the way evolution works is, when a species begins to mutate, the mutation keeps occurring until there's nothing left that can mutate. The species is bred out over the course of centuries, and replaced."

"Is that what you were going to tell me the day before yesterday?" Roxas asked.

Maria nodded. "Yes."

Roxas looked at her for a long moment as he began to figure why she had choked up the last time he had brought up this subject. "Maria?"

"Yes?"

"Those experiments were done to you, weren't they?"

Maria said nothing for a long time. "I don't want to talk about it." She whispered.

Roxas stood there for a moment, then turned and left. "Fair enough." He said in a whisper

The door opened and they stepped out. An uncomfortable silence followed. Finally, hoping to end the conversation positively, Roxas said, "I'm sorry for bringing it up."

Maria shook her head. "The Professor is helping me through it. It won't go away, but...I'm glad to be around people that will sympathise."

Roxas smiled and nodded.

"So, I digress;" Maria said, changing the subject, "Are you going to the movies as well?"

"Huh?" Roxas hadn't heard of anything about that. "What do you mean?"

"Don't you know?"

Roxas shook his head.

"The student who were helping defend the school are going to the movies to celebrate."

"Oh," Roxas said, "Okay, that's news to me." He quickly figured he hadn't been told because he wasn't invited; he hadn't defended the school. "I haven't been invited, so I guess not."

"Oh, okay." Maria said. There was a chime over the speakers, signalling that it was time to start class.

"Damn." Roxas muttered. He'd get detention for this. "See ya." He said over his shoulder as he walked quickly to class.

"Bye!" Maria called after him.

The rest of the day went on much as it did normally, save for the fact that Roxas was still fuming a little. There was after school activities, dinner, and then three hours in which the students could do whatever they pleased before curfew at nine. Roxas quickly chose to go to his room to get some time to himself, as there was a lot of fussing pairing off going on, and everyone was acting a little silly; they were laughing and smiling a little more than usual, and there were a lot of things being passed between the pairs.

Entering his room and closing the door behind him, he lay on his bed, thinking about his little altercation with Xavier. He hadn't just said no, he'd rejected Roxas' appeal out of hand. Why? What was Roxas lacking? It couldn't just be that Xavier didn't need any extra hands. In fact, how could he not need any more extra hands around? If things were heating up out there, wouldn't he need as many capable people on hand as he could get?

His thoughts were interrupted by a knock at the door.

"Who is it?" He called

"Me." Came X23's voice.

"And me." Added Kurt, with a hint of annoyance.

Roxas gave a sigh. "Come in." He said.

The door opened, and they both stepped in casually, closing the door behind them. Kurt was the first to speak. "Hey, me and Kitty are sorry for being such pains."

Roxas nodded. "Don't sweat it." Honestly, they weren't being that annoying with it, but it was beginning to get a bit much, what with their watching him and X23 and listening in when they could.

"Really?"

"Yeah, sure." Roxas said, waving his hand dismissively, "No harm done."

Kurt was silent for a moment before he shrugged. "Okay." He reached into his pocket, fumbling around for something. "Anyway, me and X-Girl..."

X23 glared at Kurt.

"Me and X23," Kurt continued, correcting himself, "Wanted to invite you along to the movies."

Roxas sat up. "For real?"

Kurt grinned at his reaction. "Sure," He pulled a piece of paper out of his pocket and held it out to Roxas. "I got the ticket right here."

Roxas took the piece of paper. It was one seat for a movie called "Blood Stained Throne". "Great!" He exclaimed, then added, "Uh...what's it about?"

"Oh, it's about this guy, who's an assassin, and his uncle kicks him out, but he gets an army..." Kurt went from the a-to-z of the movie sypnosis, and amazingly managed to get nothing across. X23 shook her head slightly in annoyance a few times along the way. "...and then he has to figure out who killed his parents. It's pretty good."

"Cool." Roxas said, masking his confusion. "When is it?"

"Tommorow. We would have gone today—I mean, hey, it's V-Day—but the Professor wanted us to stay inside," He pointed to the ceiling, "'cause the light show from last night got some attention."

"The police?" Roxas guessed.

Kurt shook his head. "Worse. The paparazzi."

Roxas nodded in understanding. He knew enough about those jackals to want to avoid them. He noticed that X23 was starting to look a little irritated. "Okay, awesome. Thanks."

"Sure, no problem." Kurt turned to leave, but stopped when he noticed that X23 wasn't following. "X-Gir—X23, you coming?"

"Go." She said in response.

Kurt sighed and opened the door. "Oh, man..." Kurt left, leaving the door ajar.

"Last night;" She began, "Those things..."

"The Heartless." Roxas said. No one else knew of last night besides X23, Xavier, Logan, Ororo, and himself. As far as the rest knew, they had just apologised to each other and called it a night.

"Right. Why did they suddenly show up?"

Roxas could see where this was going. "I don't know why they haven't shown up till now, but if I had to give an answer, I'd say it was because I haven't used the Oblivion till now."

X23 furrowed her brow. "So if you don't use it, they'll stay away?"

"I think." Roxas explained. "It should at least make them lose interest."

"'Lose interest?'" X23 echoed scathingly. "That's the best you've got?"

"Hey, I don't know what else to do." Roxas defended. "I'm trying to figure things out, but I just can't remember!

X23 averted her gaze. "Right." She said. "I know. Sorry."

An awkward silence followed. "Did you want to ask anything else?" Roxas asked.

"Yes." She answered, going with the change of subject. "You seem distracted."

"What do you mean?"

"I was following you around again, and—."

There were snickers from the other rooms. X23 popped her head out the door, "First guy I hear so much as breath becomes Jewish." She closed the door and continued, "I was following you and you didn't notice."

"How long?" Roxas asked.

"All day." X23 replied, her tone emphasising how unusual she thought Roxas' behaviour was. "What's on your mind?"

Roxas hesitated before answering. "I had a lot on my mind today."

"About what?" X23 sounded concerned.

"Just...well, when I fought those Heartless, I felt...slow. Like I could have handled it a lot easier. And things are getting bad outside in the world. I asked the Professor if I could join one of the teams."

X23 furrowed her brow, as if the idea was preposterous. "What did he say?"

"He said, 'no'."

X23 shrugged her head. "Don't take it personal. A lot of the students want to go on the field. Hard truth is; it's too dangerous now. The trip to Alaska was the first bit of in-the-field action in months."

"But shouldn't you guys have as many resources available as possible?" Roxas asked.

X23 scowled more intensely than Roxas had previously seen. "We are _not _resources," She said with a rebuking tone, "Everyone on the field teams is a valued and unique member of a larger whole group. You think just because you can kick some ass, it means you have what it takes to be part of a team? You have no idea what it means to have someone's back and for them to have yours."

"I didn't mean...I just want to be ready for..." Roxas tried, but X23 but him off.

"Ready? For the Heartless? You just said they'd lose interest."

"They will." Roxas defended. "Well, for a while."

A long moment of silence followed as X23 just stared at him. Roxas decided he'd had enough of this conversation, and asked, "Can we talk about something else?"

X23 sighed. "Fine." She said. "What then?"

Roxas motioned outside. "When I talked with the Professor today, he said things are getting bad out there. I don't know what he means."

"Haven't you been paying attention to the news" X23 asked incredulously.

He had, but it seemed like something was being left out. "It just seems like...something's being left out."

X23 said nothing, then sighed again, sorrowfully this time. "There is," She began, "Naturally, the press are playing everything down, but that's because they're paid to." She leant against a wall, getting comfortable for the long discussion. "You asked why we don't go to school in town anymore; we left because the humans were threatening to take things into their own hands. They're afraid that we'll hurt them, or their friends, or their livelihoods."

"That's what they're afraid of?" Roxas asked. "Why hasn't anyone told them they won't?"

"Because that's not true anymore." X23 said with open bitterness. "It was once, but even then it was a given that someone would fight back eventually. An since mutants are vastly stronger than humans, you can imagine what kind of impact that would have had."

Roxas nodded. "Sort of, but could you tell me anyway?"

X23 brought out the claws on one hand, displaying them. "Well, when they saw for real just how unstoppable mutants could be, paranoia took hold. Around here, when word got out of what we were, people shunned us pretty quickly."

"Shunned?" Roxas asked. He knew what it meant, but not how X23 meant it.

"Well, one time, Jean got sent off the basketball court because she was accused of sinking a shot with her telekinesis. And Kurt lost a girlfriend, though that's because another mutant screwed him up.

"Anyway, humans won't tolerate mutants, and the feeling is fast becoming mutual. One group in particular, the Brotherhood of mutants, is starting a counter campaign. I.e. calling for mutant kind to group together and stand united. That was six weeks ago."

"Just before I got here." Roxas commented.

"Yeah. Hell of a time to show up..." X23 said with a bit of light-heartedness. "The situation nationwide at this point is, humans are trying to chase the mutants away, and the mutants are feeling like they're being backed into a corner. It's going to hit the fan soon.

"The Professor has an escape plan for the school when the humans inevitably come here—the Bunker, though it's obvious that it's not as secret as he thought. After that, there's plenty of ways and places for us to hide. And with the Professor telepathically turning away anyone who might find us, we won't need to fight."

Roxas got the Professor's concern now. If all went according to what he foresaw, there wouldn't be any violence on his students. However, that was not why Roxas wanted to be trained. "The Heartless will follow me."

X23 was silent for a while as she thought. Finally, she said, "We'll cross that bridge when we come to it. You and I were able to fend them easily enough, so all of us should be fine."

She didn't get it. Roxas quickly figured he'd get the same from anyone else. He nodded to feign his agreement. Inside, he was fuming.

"I know it sounds weak," X23 continued in an understanding tone, "But it's all we have. Anything else would make us no better than them." She made a gesture in the general direction of up-and-outside, likely meaning the aforementioned people that are against mutants.

Roxas nodded again. "So, what time's the movie?"

"Four-thirty. And we're having Avalanche along as well."

"Who?"

"Shadowcat's boyfriend."

Roxas remembered the guy Kitty was talking to yesterday. "Oh, him. Why is he called Avalanche?"

X23 shrugged. "He can cause earthquakes. Mutant names are usually based on what your power is." She furrowed her brow and was silent for a moment. "Roxas?"

"Yeah?"

"What's your power?"

Roxas didn't understand. "What do you mean?"

"You blew can shoot stuff out of the Keyblade, but that's a weapon. What about you? Did you remember anything?"

Roxas got it. The mutant thing. He didn't know if he'd be believed, but, "Can you keep a secret?"

"Depends." X23 said, her tone one of suspicion.

"I...don't think I am a mutant."

X23 raised an eyebrow. "Are you making a joke or...?"

"I'm being serious." Roxas stated firmly. "I can't explain it entirely, but...I just know, I _know_, I'm not a mutant."

"Well, without a heart, what else could you be?"

Roxas didn't have an answer. Or did he...? "What if I'm a...well, like the Heartless?"  
"You don't look like a Heartless." X23 replied, an undertone of playfulness present.

"But I don't have a heart." Roxas pointed out. "Neither do they. I know what they are and what they want. I have a weapon that gets rid of them for good. _None_ of that is a coincidence. It can't be."

X23 seemed to be considering this. She looked at Roxas hand a few times as she thought her reply through. "Okay, it's possible. But why keep it a secret?"

"Because..." Roxas struggled for an answer, "Because I don't think anyone would believe me." That wasn't the whole truth—he also didn't trust the Professor, and he still had tha magic link to figure out—but it would do for now.

X23 sighed and shrugged, looking at the ground. "Fine," She turned to leave, "See you tomorrow."

"Hey, X23?" Roxas said, causing her to stop.

"Hm?"

"What is Valentine's Day, anyway?"

X23 stood still and stared at him for the longest time since Roxas had known her. Had he just said another one of _those_ things?

"It's...you don't know?" She asked, clearly gobsmacked.

"No-one told me." Roxas stated with a shrug.

X23 was silent again, working up an explanation. "It's a...holiday. You know?"

"Like that Christmas thing?"

"Sort of."

"Sort of?" Roxas was getting a little confused. X23 wasn't being straight forward like she usually was. "What's the difference?"

"Well, Christmas is supposed to be all about the spending and the food. V-Day is...more personal. Usually, you give a gift to someone you care about." X23's cheeks were gaining a little colour.

"Care about...how?" Roxas got the impression that it was more than friends from some of the things he saw going on earlier.

"Like...with...don't you watch T.V?"

"Yeah..." Roxas answered, not following what she meant.

X23's face reddened a little. "Ugh! Ask someone else."

She opened the door to leave. Several of the male students were standing outside. A mad scramble later, and X23's path was cleared. She left the door open when she left.

Roxas sat there on his bed for a moment before getting up and closing the door himself. There was a knock from outside.

"What happened?" One of the students asked.

"Go away." Roxas said, his voice conveying his annoyance. Though, really, he was annoyed with X23's confusing behaviour. This whole day had gone awry...

"C'mon, give us _some_ details" The student persisted, adding a bang on the door.

Roxas took a quick step then kicked the aluminium barrier. There was a muttered insult from the other side, but nothing else. With that done, Roxas decided to get some sleep. He'd had enough.

He lay there for a long time, tossing and turning, unable to so much as get drowsy. He'd put the confusing end to his and X23's discussion away, but was unable to get rid of his desire to further his abilities. The Heartless would stay away, the absence of the Oblivion removing the bait, but they'd be back, if only for the other hearts they must have noticed around as they swarmed to him. But with Xavier refusal, how could he? Could he perhaps go outside the school, go to one of those dojo's he saw advertised on T.V? No, Xavier wouldn't have that. Plus, he had nothing to pay for the lessons with.

He needed someone to teach him here. But who. The teachers were a definite 'no'; they'd agree with Xavier. X23 perhaps? But she knew of Xavier's decision. She wouldn't go against it, if only because Logan wouldn't. Kurt? No, he needed someone more experienced. But who else was there around, who wouldn't rat him out at...

"Crap..." Roxas muttered, facepalming. "Crap, crap, _crap..._" There was someone else.

"Why'd I have to figure that out...?"

* * *

**There you go. Hope it's up to scratch.**

**Like I said; not going to post with a while, because I posted this early, and the next chapter is far from ready.**


	18. Chapter Eighteen

It was early morning. Very early. Roxas had an hour and a half before everyone else started to wake, and he wanted to save as much time as possible in case his first lesson started immediately. He snuck out from the boy's rooms and trod slowly and quietly through the halls, narrowly avoiding the dozens of cameras and infrared tripwires as he went along. Roxas new this was all to prevent intrusions into the lower levels by characters like the ones that attacked recently, but he couldn't help but wonder if perhaps the teachers enjoyed the extra security against midnight raids on the fridge by the students. And Logan, on occasion.

He hadn't had any sleep yet, and it was nearly dawn. He was going to be falling off his chair today. At least he could steal some sleep during break, and a lot of coffee might not do him wrong either. The reason for his insomnia was that he'd been juggling arguments in his head, working his mind tirelessly to come up with an iron clad story for his soon-to-be-trainer to buy into. This didn't allay a feeling of nervousness in the pit of his stomach, but it did give him confidence.

He ducked under another camera, before crouching and hopping over infrared sensors. Roxas thought perhaps just making the trip from his room to where he was going would be enough exercise to get him in shape.

He passed the rooms that the teachers were staying in. He held his breath as he passed Logan's room, fearing his hearing, and again when he passed the Professor's room, more from reflex than necessity, despite the fact he was obviously sleeping like everyone else. Honestly, he wished he had some way of knowing, or having some guarantee, that Xavier wasn't always reading people's minds. The paranoia was stressing beyond belief.

He rounded a corner, coming to a hallway full of infrared sensors. No camera's, though. Roxas was thankful for the fact that the sensors weren't the moving type he'd seen in the spy thrillers on T.V as he squeezed past them. He was less thankful for the distance he had to go to get where he wanted to be...

_He just couldn't be satisfied with being near the rest of us, could he?_ Roxas thought with exasperation as he got to his destination. Shadow and Maria's room.

It was a temporary room, like everyone else's, but it was on the other side of the lower levels from the students. Roxas noted how close it was to the hangar while he was getting there.

He paused before knocking, gathering himself for the coming discussion.

He'd been up sorting out his argument, what to say, what Shadow might say, and what he'd say to that. He felt sure that his reasoning would work, but he was no less nervous about what he was doing. If he was caught...

He knocked on the door, softly, barely making a vibration with the impact of his knuckle.

The door was open faster than Roxas' eyes could register. Shadow was glaring down at him, muscles tense and coiled, ready to launch into whatever violence might come.

Roxas spoke calmly as he dissuaded this expectation. "Can we talk?"

Shadow stepped out and closed the door quietly, not waiting for Roxas to make room for him and barging him aside. He stood, still glaring like before. "You spoke to Maria today." He stated.

"Yeah?" Roxas confirmed, while inquiring what Shadow's point was.

"She said you asked about her past."

"So?"

"What happened back then isn't your business."

Roxas held back a sneer. "She didn't have much problem talking about it."

"She's naïve." Shadow replied.

Roxas and Shadow stood glaring a moment before Roxas said, "I didn't come here to argue."

"Fine. What do you want?" Shadow demanded.

Roxas took a breath in preparation. "I want to know Kung Fu."

There was a long silence as both of them stood staring at each other. "Why would I teach you anything like that?"

"You think I'm a spy," Roxas stated, "Or something like that. You don't trust me, and if anything, expect me to try to kill you at some point." Roxas paused to give Shadow a chance to get a word in. When he said nothing, Roxas continued, "If I do, you'd like to have a card to play. Something to give you an edge. Also, you'd like to know what I can do even more; what tricks I have up my sleeve. You teach me how to fight, you learn what I can do."

There was another silence. Shadow made no change of expression, but he didn't need to. The fact that he was still standing there was evidence that, whatever he was thinking, he was seriously considering this. "Why are you asking me, and not Wolverine?" Shadow asked, his suspicion clear.

"He won't teach me." Roxas explained. "I asked the Professor if I could train for field missions, but he said no. He'd object to me getting training from anywhere now."

"Why do you want to be capable for field missions?"

Those assassins. If something like that happens again, I want to be ready."

"Does this have anything to do with the Keyblade?"

Roxas paused. Would Shadow realise it if he withheld the truth? Would he read his mind if he did? "A little. Xavier doesn't want me using it unnecessarily."

"Why?"

"He thinks I've let the recent fighting go to my head." Roxas said, careful not to sound too annoyed. He didn't need Shadow thinking that he had a fragile ego.

Shadow crossed his arms and tilted his head to one side. "You're leaving something out."

Roxas made a silent wish before answering, "I'm not." _Please believe it, please believe it..._

The red eyed mutant straightened. "Fine," He said "It's a deal". He looked like he still didn't believe it, but was letting it drop. Thank the powers that be.

Roxas nodded, thrilled that Shadow had agreed, though kept it bottled, not wanting to look like an excitable infant.

"I'll approach you at curfew tomorrow. Make no mention of this until then."

* * *

It was by some miracle that he woke when everyone else did. Well, roughly the same time.

"Roxas, you coming?" Kurt called. "We don't have all day, you know?"

"Coming," Roxas called. "What time is it?"

"Ten to ten. Come on, we have chores to do."

Roxas hauled himself out of bed and walked half consciously to the showers. As he redressed, he remembered his coat. He'd been wearing it when he was found, they told him. He wondered what happened to it.

He walked to the fridge and grabbed out a small juice bottle, two apples and a sandwich, before going back to his room to eat, wanting to avoid running into Maria or Shadow. The less he saw of them this soon after the agreement, the better; it would only take one slip up to give away something to the teachers or the more well trained students, like X23.

Roxas paused as he ate. "How do I know that...?" He wondered.

There were steps outside, breaking him out of his thoughts. After a quick knock, the door was opened by Scott. "Roxas, when you're done with your breakfast, get up top to the garden."

Roxas nodded. He'd heard there were a few students who were going to fix the garden, which was trashed much like everything else, and they were looking for a few extra hands. The rest of the school would be handled by tradesmen—carpenters, plumbers, bricklayers, and electricians—so as not to void the insurance on anything. He finished off his food quickly, and made his way to the surface.

As he exited the lift, he was greeted by a beam of sunlight coming through the window and into his eyes. He squinted in agony as his retina protested to the illumination. Roxas considered turning around and grabbing an ice-coffee to make himself more alert, but dismissed it quickly; he was doing alright thus far, might as well tough it out through the day.

He walked to the garden, and paused at the sight of it. He realised, this was the first time he had come here since the day he asked to start school. He saw some of the other students sorting out plants, picking up broken pottery, putting plants into new pots, and sweeping up dirt and debris. Roxas didn't move to help, though, as he was suddenly lost in his own thoughts.

_I was thinking about something here..._

Roxas tried to think back. He had remembered something back then, but it had left him as soon as it came. Now that he was remembering things for real, he might be able to remember this, although it had only just come to mind again now.

_I remembered...a girl..._

"Hello? Earth to Roxas? Come in please?"

"Huh?" Roxas came back to the world around him in a daze. "Kurt...?"

"Yeah, Kurt." Kurt looked at Roxas with concern. "You majorly spaced out there. Are you alright?"

"Rough night." Roxas said.

"Are you going to be awake for the movie?"

"Yeah, sure. I'll be fine."

Kurt shrugged. "If you say so." He gave a dustpan and brush that he had been holding to Roxas. "Just the hanging shelves."

Roxas took the pan and brush and got to work. As he did, he thought back to when he had spaced out.

What had he been thinking about?

He thought hard for a few minutes as he brushed away, but eventually found it futile. Whatever it was, it was lost.

_Again..._

Roxas face tweaked with confusion. Why did he think again?

"Are you going to space out again?" Kurt said as he teleported next to Roxas, surprising him.

"Wha-! Don't do that!" He snapped.

"Sorry," Kurt apologised, "It's just too fun to resist. Well, every now and then, anyway."

Roxas smiled and shook his head, getting back to work. "Whatever. Apology accepted."

Kurt nodded and started double checking the work that had been done around the garden. "What were you thinking about anyway?"

Roxas frowned a little. "I don't know."

"Did I derail you, or something?"

"No," Roxas said with a light laugh, "I mean...like, since I got here, I've had these...I don't know...reflexes, I guess," He fought for the right words to explain, "You know fighting works? Drilling a move until it becomes instinct?"

"Yeah?"

"You know how that works for phrases and stuff?"

"You mean habits?"

"Sort of." Clearly, the idea would get across muddled at best. "Anyway, sometimes, when I'm thinking about something, or doing something, I think that...well, when those assassins were trying to get into the bunker, I sort of knew they would have something that could get them in."

"Of course they would." Kurt pointed out. "They don't half-ass these things."

Roxas shook his head. "No, not like that. It's like...I've been trained before. But when I try to think about where and what for, it's gone."

"Oh, your memories." Kurt said. "Yeah, I think that's how it goes, or something. It's the worst part, if the TV gets it right; always getting these little flashes, but never remembering anything important. Although," Kurt made a gesture to Roxas' hand, "You have started to remember some pretty big things lately."

_Yeah, but I don't count those as overly _important. "Hey, Kurt?"

"Yeah?

"Do you know what happened to that coat I was wearing when I showed up here?"

Kurt was quiet for a moment as he looked at Roxas, not knowing what he meant. "Oh, right. That one." He said when he recalled what Roxas was talking about. "I don't know. I think Scott might have put it away somewhere."

Roxas made a mental note to bring it up some time later in the day. "Right. Thanks."

"Do you think having it back might jog your memory?" Kurt asked.

Roxas stopped. He had considered that. Would it, if he held it, or wore it. "I don't know. Do you think it might?"

Kurt shrugged. "No idea. But Having the Keyblade brought something back, didn't it?"

Roxas nodded. "It did, but I don't know if he coat would be the same."

"Couldn't hurt to try." Kurt suggested.

_It could if it brought more heartless, _Roxas thought. Though that was highly unlikely, really. "We'll see. What's next after cleaning up around here?"

"Moving the plants that were inside out into to here, so they're not in anyone's way." Kurt said. "Putting them into new vases was hard enough without the builders knocking them over again."

Roxas paused as a thought occurred to him. "Won't some of them be suspicious of the fact we have elevators that go underground?"

Kurt shook his head with a sly smile. "Panic rooms and bomb shelters aren't looked at as suspicious."

Roxas smiled back. That was clever. He got back to work, which didn't take long to finish. The previous work done had knocked any dirt or dust onto the floor, which had been swept already. Once done, they left to get to the heavy lifting.

"How many can you teleport out at a time?" Roxas asked.

"So long as the builders are here, none." Kurt answered. "No powers around them. Could spook them into leaving."

"Right." Roxas agreed. They came to the first lot of large pots, where Bobby and Rahne—or, 'Wolfsbane'— were already hauling a tall, thin pot away.

"All finished in there?" Rahne asked.

Roxas nodded and stuck a thumb over his shoulder. "Spotless."

"Drop anything in there, and I'm not cleaning it again." Kurt stated.

"Yeah, whatever." Bobby replied.

Roxas and Kurt grabbed one of the pots and started shuffling it out. Kurt muttered his resent of the fact that they couldn't use their powers, but otherwise the process of moving all the plants was silent. By the end of it, Roxas was weary, not only from the exertion, but from his lack of sleep the previous night.

"When's lunch?" Roxas asked, yawning loudly.

"Right now, actually," Kurt replied, looking at his watch, "It's up here, though. Barbeque, outside the front doors. Well, where the front doors used to be anyway." Kurt looked at his hands, making a face at how dirty they were. "There's soap there. After lunch, we've got half an hour to get clean and get moving."

"Good," Roxas said, though he wasn't really paying attention. He followed Kurt to the outdoor meal, stopping in front of a table at the steps to use the soap dispenser and bucket of water that were there.

"Yikes, they're serving the food already," Kurt said, "Better get in there."

Roxas didn't need to be told twice, though he was keeping an eye out for anything with caffeine in it. He came down the step and walked past the fountain—

"Roxas." Xavier called.

_Dammit..._Roxas seethed inwardly. He stopped and turned to see the Professor beckoning Roxas to come over from behind one of the set up tables. He already had his food.

Roxas acquiesced, walking briskly, too tired to have any emotion on his face other than simple neutrality. "Yes?"

"Are you alright?"

"Fine." Roxas fought down the urge to rub his eyes.

"Hm. I wanted to inform you that I have asked an acquaintance of Rogue's, Agatha Harkness, to visit us. She helped us in a small way before, and I'm hoping whe will be willing to help us again. If it is alright with you, I'd like to have her investigate the link within your mind."

Roxas nodded. "Sure." Honestly, Roxas had forgotten about it. The voice in his head hadn't come up since that night against the assassins. Whoever was on the other side mustn't have had much to say.

"Good," Xavier said, "One more thing; I've spoken with X23 and Kurt about having you along in town. Since this is your first time outside the school grounds, I have asked them to watch you, and keep you from doing or saying something that you should not."

Roxas stiffened. "I don't need babysitting."

Xavier made no change of expression. "I know it may seem like that, but this is not babysitting." From his tone, he was half expecting Roxas to react the way he did. "If, perhaps, you were to mention someone's mutation, or say something that implied you were separate from the human condition..."

"Someone might figure out that we're mutants." Roxas said, getting what Xavier was concerned about.

"Not only that, but they might try to have you detained on false charges." Xaiver corrected. "The

Roxas looked toward the gates at the edge of the school grounds. "I'll be careful" He figured he would have to start making an effort to keep that human-vs-mutant thing in mind. Despite his suspicion of what he really was, his lot was with the mutants.

Xavier nodded toward the line for the food. "Hurry, before it disappears."

Roxas did as Xavier suggested and grabbed a plastic plate before joining the queue. By the time he got his food, his stomach was growling furiously. The seating was haphazard, so he just grabbed the nearest seat. As he dug in, he called to mind his jacket again; he hadn't seen it since he first regained consciousness, when they had started asking who he was and how he got hurt, and his vision had been a bit off due to exhaustion. Yet he had a clear image in his head of how it looked. If he put it one...would he regain more memories? The prospect was tempting...

He shook his head 'no' to himself. Now wasn't the time. Not when he was still sorting out what he had remembered so far. He also didn't need any distractions now that Shadow was going to start teaching him.

He finished his food and dumped his plate in the bin. Half an hour to get ready. He returned to the lower levels and showered, putting on some fresh clothes and heading back up to meet with everyone else outside.

When he got outside again, he was greeted by an anxious looking group of his friends. They looked pretty keen to get going, minus Kitty, Kurt, Rogue and that Avalanche guy, who were just standing talking amongst themselves. X23 hadn't arrived yet.

"What's taking X-Girl so long?" Kitty asked, as if someone would know.

"No idea." Roxas answered anyway.

"Is she coming?" Rogue asked. "Because if she's having a mood or something—"

"I don't have moods." Came X23's threatening statement. "I just had some trouble with my hair."

Everyone looked at her. Her hair was unchanged from what it always was. Noticing the staring, X23 added, "Nothing worked, so I left it like this."

At his they all shrugged. "Whatever, let's get going." Rogue said.

The group got moving, walking to the cars they were going in—driving licences had been achieved by a few of them some time ago—and after driving piling in, they drove into town.

* * *

Within the school, Xavier sat at one of the windows, looking out into the afternoon school grounds. Logan and Scott approached him, concerned at his meditative stare into the burning colours of day.

"Professor?" Scott barely heard Xavier's reply of 'hm?'. "Everything okay?"

"Things have been quiet outside." Xavier said.

Logan and Scot exchanged looks. "What are you talking about?" Logan asked.

Xavier lowered his head slightly, for a moment appearing to be under an immense weight, before turning awy from the window toward the two men. "I'll be using Cerebro if you need me." He wheeled away, leaving them with worry instead of friendly concern.

"Think he's worried about G.U.N still?" Scott suggested. Logan shook his head, looking out the window himself.

"Quiet outside...maybe he means Magneto." The older man said. "The world hasn't had eye or ear of him for a while now beyond the mutant recruiting."

Scott nodded. "That might be it. Magneto doesn't sit and build, not for long."

"Doesn't matter to us, though. With all the humans calling for mutant blood, it'll be a government handled thing when Magneto makes his move."

"S.H.I.E.L.D might vouch for us." Scott said, meaning being given protection from any anti-mutant reforms.

"In exchange for what?" Logan asked bitterly.

A silence followed, punctuating the rough place they were in. In the end, they both dropped the subject, as everyone in the school always did; there was nothing that could be done to change it. Their lot in the world was set, almost predetermined, by the world around them.

And men like Magneto only made it worse.

* * *

**Okay, long wait for this one. I think there's a bit a fluff/ordinary stuff in this chapter, which made writing it slow and arduous. For example, this chapter was like finishing off some vegies that you dont like to get to desert. By the end of it, I wasn't quite sure what to think of it. I'd really appreciate any criticism anyone has.**

**The next chapter I'm looking forward to, and should be able to write fairly quick.**

**Beginning of this chapter is a tribute to one of my favorite books, Darth Bane: Path of Destruction. Hope I didn't plagiarize it.**


	19. Chapter Nineteen

From behind his desk, he stared at nothing. His vision was inward, within his mind. He was thinking about his younger years, about easier times. Times in his youth with his mother. Times in his seminal years with his friend. Times of joy. Times of sorrow. Times of bitterness, oh so many.

He came out from his mind to his physical sight to look at his hand. There was the faintest tremor there.

_Age and stress,_ he thought. And hadn't his life been stressful, filled with burden and duty. And this life had been long. So long.

Tired. He was so...very...

...tired.

And wasn't forging the future tiring work?

He reached across with his hand, and touched metal. Metal...strong, stable...he felt the edges, the dome of the object, the familiar proximity it had. It spoke of security, of safety. Safety he would always need, for the rest of his life.

Because in the end...he simply couldn't trust Charles.

So tired. So lonely.

"My Lord."

He sighed inwardly, the reminder of the world at his feet drawing up his resolve. He stood, taking the metal—his helmet—in hand. He placed in over his head, and in its firm, unyielding embrace he was—

"Lord Magneto?"

"Brother Jothuun." Magneto replied, his voice unwavering and authoritative.

"There were no casualties to either the teachers or students. All is well for them."

Magneto was relieved by this. He was keeping a close eye on Charles these days, knowing which side he would be on when the world shifted since their falling out. Despite this enmity of allegiance between them, he did feel relief to hear that both he and his student had gone unharmed from the attack propagated against them.

"What else has developed?" He asked.

Jothuun approached the grand desk, bowed his head quickly, and presented a folder and a locked wooden case. Magneto gave forth the smallest measure of his magnetic might and the lock was undone. The folder he merely opened, looking through the papers within. Once, in the years of his prime, he would have raged at the suggestion that homo sapien superior should use such primitive objects, but in his old age, he saw how there was no other alternative. Besides, many of the Brothers and Sisters bore electro magnetism like himself, and this manifested in many different ways between them. Electromagnetic pulses, for instance...

There was a way around this, of course, but it had yet to be developed; designing ways to counter whatever possible defences the humans might invent to thwart their powers was of greater priority.

He read the pieces of paper one after the other, which detailed word-for-word the report of a Sister within Charles' school. Three new students had since been welcomed by his old friend. One several weeks ago.

"Why was this not reported sooner?" Magneto demanded without changing tone or volume.

"Hesitation by the Sister who gave us the report. She has been reprimand accordingly, though encouraged to use discretion."

Magneto nodded, satisfied. He had worked long and hard to bring discipline and structure to his Brother and Sisters. He was glad when it was displayed appropriately. "Roxas. Shadow, and Maria," He read aloud. He diverted his attention to the contents of the box. Pictures. He took them up one at a time to look at them.

The first dozen were of the new students. They were taken with a cellphone, obviously—infernal devices—but the angles and range were good enough that he had a clear view of what they looked like.

Along with these, there were pictures of government vehicles, a picture of Director Fury exiting one of the vehicles with some other humans in tow, and Fury going inside the demolished front doors of the school.

On the next two pictures, one of Fury sitting down with Charles, and another of Fury leaing, there was the time that each picture was taken written with a permanent marker. Good initiative.

He returned to reading the scroll. The blonde one—Roxas—was accepted as a mutant, though beyond a sword from which he could project destructive energies, he had displayed no mutations. Curious, though late bloomers were far from uncommon.

The younger one, Maria. Earlier in the scroll it was mentioned that she and Shadow had escaped G.U.N. What G.U.N did to them, though, is unknown. She is often with Shadow—

He paused, fixed on one line. "Human," He read out. He wasn't surprised, disgusted or angry, knowing Charles' nature. He didn't feel anything at this. He simply made a mental note to avoid stepping on this one out of respect for the memory or their friendship.

Bypassing everything else regarding Maria beyond her relationship with Shadow, Magneto moved on to the last of the three: multiple powers, adamantium encased skeleton, aggressive behaviour, obvious martial arts training. The latter would suggest that G.U.N trained him, which would in turn suggest that he was trained in a number of other things as well. Shadow was...impressive, though clearly very hostile. Magneto could relate, and through this knew that Shadow would be very untrusting, preferring to go things alone. To be young again...

"Ah," He said, getting to a very interesting and disturbing piece of information. "G.U.N has made a move."

"One that does not make sense." Jothuun stated. "S.H.I.E.L.D has now seen their methods and means, and G.U.N has gained nothing we can see. We cannot fathom why they would suddenly be so reckless."

Magneto stood silent, looking at the paper on the folder in his hand. There was more there to read, but Magneto was focused on the G.U.N attack at the moment. What did Xavier have that would provoke them? Nothing that would not have made Fury move against him as well. Unless Fury was in on it? No, he would have been seen visiting bi or tri monthly at least. Xavier would not have had anything of interest. However, Shadow had only recently arrived when they attacked. "Shadow's escape was a concern for G.U.N?"

"Shadow is very powerful," Jothuun stated, "They might have wanted him back for that reason. But all that effort, even for one person?"

Magneto looked at the photos of Shadow. The expression on his face. That anger... "He would have been experimented on." He reasoned to himself. Charles' other friend, Logan, was of great interest because of his healing factor. Shadow was likely the same. "G.U.N may have other interests in him. Watch him."

Jothuun gave a nod and said, "Yes, my Lord."

Magneto looked through the rest of the folder. G.U.N had turned the mansion upside down during their attack, likely making the most of the situation; if they were there, they would grab anything they could find. Not that they would have found anything. Charles was clever.

S.H.I.E.L.D's visits were only for the sake of Shadow, which confirmed for Magneto that he was someone of great interest, more so than his healing factor would make him. Information, perhaps?

"Very interesting." Magneto said, summing up for himself his opinion of everything he had just read. "Have the Trusted Ones gathered. These matters require their counsel."

Jothuun bowed and left, walking across the long floor to the thick doors of Magneto's public chambers.

Magneto sat down again, taking up pen and paper and writing down the matter he was to present to the Trusted Ones.

The Trusted Ones were those who had shown leadership through logical reasoning and fealty to his vision through sacrifice and personal labour. They were of varying ages' some old, some young. They were his means of maintaining order throughout the society he had built.

They had their own ideas, ways of handling things, like all individuals. But Magneto made sure, at every turn, he was the one to whom they looked to for a decision. That everyone looked to. Dissent was lethal.

He penned away for the next two-and-a-half hours, highlighting points, considering and countering arguments that might be made, and choosing words carefully. Speech was an art, and needed to be refined as such.

He finished and sat back, contemplating. G.U.N's hand had been forced, and now they might step up whatever they have been doing. The main problem with knowing this was not knowing what G.U.N would likely do. That must be why G.U.N wanted him back so much, and would explain S.H.I.E.L.D's visits also.

Pehaps he should pay his old friend a visit...?

No. Not yet. The time for him to approach Charles was still some time off, though still near. It would be unwise to seek out one of his students. The Sister within the school would need to be tasked with setting up surveillance of some kind.

There was a knock on the large doors. Magneto opened them with a twitch of his finger, allowing Jothuun in.

"Lord Magneto. They are ready for you."

Magneto stood and came around to the front of his desk, walking foward to the doors, Jothuun staying where he was to hold the door for him, bowing as his Lord went past.

Magneto made long purposeful strides, feeling the power of authority and confidence burn away the years.

Forging the future was rewarding work.

* * *

Roxas stood staring at the nine TV's stacked on each other in rows of three that were showing a combined video. They were still in the lobby of the cinemas, getting snacks and drinks, and Roxas was enjoying watching the ads for the movies both showing and upcoming. He looked over his shoulder at the line for snacks, seeing that his friends were just getting to the counter.

_Not long now,_ he thought. He was itching to get his hands on some soda, for the sake of getting him through the movie. He was alert right now; the ads had his attention. But that would fade pretty quick, and his eyes were already beginning to blink very frequently.

"Here." Rogue offered, approaching him with a large drink. "What has you so tired anyway?"

"Thanks," Roxas said, accepting the drink, "Just a rough night. I'll pay you back sometime."

"My shout" Rogue said. Standing beside Roxas, she joined him in looking back on forth between the screens and the line for food.

Roxas noticed Rogue was a little tense. "What's up?"

"Huh?"

"You're wound up, or something."

Rogue loosened her stance. "It's nothing."

"What's nothing?" Kurt asked as he approached with enough popcorn in hand to fill the glove box of a car.

"Just..." Rogue tensed again, "Being out here; haven't done it for a while."

"Don't you get out often?" Roxas asked.

"That's not what she means." Kurt said. Lowering his voice, he explained, "We've been in some hot spots with humans before. She's just nervous."

Roxas looked around at all the people present. "Will they ask us to leave if they find out?"

"Maybe." Rogue said. "It'd be better than what else they might do."

"You shouldn't worry, really." Kurt said, still quiet. "Professor X is probably keeping an eye on things; if things get out of hand, he'll sort it out long enough for us to leave.

Roxas furrowed his brow. He'd heard the Professor was a powerful telepath, but he hadn't understood what that meant apparently. Just how far did the Professor's mind reach?

"Anyway, how about you asking to be an X-Man. X-Girl said Professor X said no."

Roxas looked to the side in annoyance before answering, "Yeah, he said no."

"We heard you and her talking about why humans and mutants hate each other."

Roxas looked at Kurt. "How long _were_ you listening in, anyway?"

Kurt rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment. "When she said that you showed up at a bad time. So...yeah, we heard the Valentine thing..."

"Anything else?" Roxas asked warily.

"Just something about some heartless people." Kurt said.

"Heartless people." Rogue asked. "You mean more like you?"

Roxas was still for a moment before he shrugged. "I dunno. More memories." _Also a good cover story..._

"Did the Professor give you a reason for not wanting to let you join?"

Roxas shrugged again. "Just recent stuff. Mostly about the Keyblade. Long story short, I want to know how to use it, but the Professor thinks it might be dangerous."

"How so?"

Roxas gestured in what he guessed to be the general direction of the school. "Remember how I put a hole in the school and made bad guy confetti?" _Not to mention the Heartless..._

"Yeah...I can see how that would be a problem." Rogue agreed.

Leaving the subject at that, the waited as the rest of their group got their snacks and massed in front of the screens, before joining the line. Roxas chose to stand with X23, who was tense like Rogue.

"You too?" He asked, trying for conversation.

"What?"

"Tense. Like you're among enemies."

X23 looked at a nearby crowd of people. "We are." She said quietly.

Roxas opened his mouth to make a reply, but the line started moving. Roxas resigned to go along with the crowd. He handed his ticket over, went inside and sat down, still next to X23.

There was chatter all around, but Roxas was content to keep to himself, sipping on his drink. Rogue, who was also next to him, sat leaning her head on one arm, as if bored. Roxas began to question if anyone was enjoying this night out at all.

He heard Kitty giggle.

Well, someone was enjoying it.

The theatre darkened and the screen came to life. Ads started to play; ads for platinum class seating in the theatre, ads for cinema advertising (of all things), and ads for sports drinks. After that, some awareness ads.

Rooxas sat, feeling the caffine chase away his sleepiness. The ad playing was one about the effects of smoking, emphysema specifically. Roxas noted though how painful it might be to go through that. He also thought if the movie might start soon.

Unfortunately, the was another ad. This one was about...oh...

'_Would you trust a compulsively violent person to conduct anger management?_' The ad played a scenario of a support group with someone swinging a chair across the room, '_Would you allow people with a disability to be treated in the gutter?'_ The ad portrayed a teen receiving physiotherapy on the side of a street in the rain, '_The Morlocks say mutants can help mutants. This simply isn't true. Mutants need professional help. There are many facilities were they can receive the supervision and help they need. The city gutters are not one of them._

'_If you see anyone who you think is involved with the Morlocks, or have any information about them, please act responsibly and cotact the police on their non-emergency line. One small bit of information can get a Mutant out off the streets and into safety._'

Roxas sat gaping. What had he just seen and heard?

_The Morlocks..._ weren't they something X23 had mentioned? And mutants not being suitable to help mutants; that was practically _aimed_ at the Professor.

He looked over to X23. She looked back at him and shrugged, as if this was just an annoying thing that popped up in life. He leaned over to her and whispered, "How can they say that? How can they _get away_ with saying that?"

"I told you last night;" She said, trying to sound non-chalant, "They're paranoid, and they ostracise us as a result." She nodded backward at the audience. "You'll get used to ignoring it eventually. They can say what they want, it won't make a difference one way or the other."

Roxas didn't know what she meant, but he didn't think to ask. The ads finished and the theatre darkened to pitch black. Roxas shook his head, putting his shock aside.

The movie began.

* * *

Outside the theatre, further out of town, a taxi stopped abruptly. A man, clad in a dark-brown overcoat, stepped out. He looked around, his wide eyes making many near uncomfortable when he looked their way.

"Hey, jackass!" The driver called. "Money?!"

The man stepped over beside the door, kneeling down to be level with the drivers gaze. He stayed there for several minutes. The driver closed his window, then drove off, not a single word being said by either men.

The man in the brown coat stood and looked around again. He spotted a dark alley, and headed to it. Once there, he pulled out a map. Looking it over, he stepped out of the alley and began walking to his destination.

He could feel Xavier's gaze, his mind pulsing over the town in waves. Fortunately, they were not focused, as far as he could feel. So long as he was cautious, he should go undetected.

Emphasis on _should_. After all, Xavier was unlikely to forget another mentalist. Especially one of the Mastermind's calibre.

* * *

**Sorry for the wait, but I've had to do massive amounts of research for all this. I've found that Magneto had no form of government, or any advisors/sub-rulers to assist him with being the sovreign mutant. I find I must, embarrassingly, improvise and make some characters for Magneto to be assisted by. I'd like any suggestions on existing mutants to use, because I do not know if there may be some candidates that I missed (Mesmero and Mastermind are not valid, as Mastermind is an agent at best and Mesmero is untrustworthy). Original character suggestions are out of the question.  
**

**Magneto makes his debut in the story, along with Mastermind. Obviously, Mastermind is a messenger at the moment, due to his skill in illusions making him ideal for getting around unnoticed.**

**The Morlocks are being brought up again, and they are going to be brought up a few more times. They won't make an appearance, though.**


End file.
